The 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations

Gulf Cup of Nations

The Gulf Cup of Nations , also known as Khaleeji followed by the edition of the games , is a football tournament currently held every two years rotating the host city every edition...

is the twenty first edition of the biennial football competition, and will take place in Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

, in 2013. The competition was originally going to be hosted in the city of Basra

Basra

Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 but was moved to Bahrain in October 2011 to ensure that Iraq could suitably host the competition in the 22nd edition.

Teams

8 teams will participate in the tournament.
(Host) (Holder)

Kuwait being the winner for the 10th time and Bahrain being the host, they will be seeded 1st for the draw for each of the two groups.

Draw

• The draw date is yet to be announced, but will most likely happen later in 2012.

• Eight teams will be divided into two groups, Bahrain
  Bahrain national football team
  The Bahrain national football team is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association; it was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the finals of the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so...
  
   (the host nation) will be in group A, Kuwait
  Kuwait national football team
  The Kuwait National Football Team is the national team of Kuwait and is controlled by the Kuwait Football Association. They made one World Cup Finals appearance, in 1982, managing a draw with Czechoslovakia but losing to England and France. During the match against France, France scored a goal...
  
   (the holder) in group B, while the rest of the teams will be placed in a pot based on FIFA ranking.