en 2nd Arabian Gulf Cup

1972 Arabian Gulf Cup
دورة كأس الخليج العربي الثانية (in Arabic)
Tournament details
Host country	Saudi Arabia
Dates	16–28 March
Teams	4
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Kuwait (2nd title)
Runners-up	Saudi Arabia
Third place	United Arab Emirates
Fourth place	Qatar
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	25 (4.17 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Saeed Ghurab (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Farouq Ibrahim
Best goalkeeper	Ahmed Eid Al-Harbi
	← 1970 1974 →

The 2nd Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: دورة كأس الخليج العربي الثانية) was the second edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup. The tournament was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and was won by defending champions Kuwait for the second time. The tournament took place between 16 and 28 March 1972.^[1] Kuwait won their second consecutive title, edging out Saudi Arabia on goal difference after both nations finished with equal points. This was the first instance of the title being decided by goal difference.

United Arab Emirates made their debut in the competition and finished third. Bahrain withdrew after walking off the field, during the final match of the tournament, against Saudi Arabia to protest the officiating. They were subsequently ejected from the competition and their results were expunged.

Teams

Team	Previous appearances in tournament^[A]
Bahrain	1 (1970)
Kuwait	1 (1970)
Qatar	1 (1970)
Saudi Arabia (host)	1 (1970)
United Arab Emirates	0 (debut)

^ Bold indicates champion for that year.

Venues

Riyadh	Riyadh
	Youth Welfare Stadium in Al-Malaz
	Capacity: 27,000

Match officials

Country	Referee
Bahrain	Ibrahim Al-Doy
Egypt	Mohamed Diab Al-Attar
Kuwait	Jaber Al-Jalahemah
Saudi Arabia	Abdulrahman Al-Daham
Sudan	Abdeen Ibrahim

Tournament

The four teams in the tournament played a single round-robin style competition. The team achieving first place in the overall standings was the tournament winner.

All times are local, AST (UTC+3).

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Kuwait	3	2	1	0	14	2	+12	5
Saudi Arabia	3	2	1	0	10	2	+8	5
United Arab Emirates	3	1	0	2	1	11	–10	2
Qatar	3	0	0	3	0	10	–10	0
Bahrain^[a]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

^ Bahrain were ejected from the competition and their record was expunged after abandoning their match against Saudi Arabia to protest the officiating.

Matches

16 March 1972