# 3rd Arabian Gulf Cup

The 3rd Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic: دورة كأس الخليج العربي الثالثة) was the third edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup. The tournament was held in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and was won by two-time defending champions and hosts Kuwait. The tournament took place between 15 and 29 March 1974. All matches were played at the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium.
Oman took part in the competition for the first time. Kuwait defeated Saudi Arabia 4–0 in the final to win their third title in a row. The victory meant that Kuwait had earned the privilege of keeping the trophy permanently.
The number of teams in this edition increased from five to six and the format of the competition changed. Instead of one round-robin group, the six nations were split into two groups of three. The top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals with each group winner facing the other group's runner-up. The winners of the semi-finals faced each other in the final while the defeated semi-finalists played the third-place play-off.

## Teams

| Team | Previous appearances in tournament |
| Bahrain | 2 (1970, 1972) |
| Kuwait (host) | 2 (1970, 1972) |
| Oman | 0 (debut) |
| Qatar | 2 (1970, 1972) |
| Saudi Arabia | 2 (1970, 1972) |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 (1972) |
* ↑ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

## Venues

| Kuwait City | Kuwait City |
| Kuwait City | Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium |
| Kuwait City | Capacity: 15,000 |

## Match officials

| Country | Referee |
| Bahrain | Ali Kamenjah |
| England | Matthews |
| Iraq | Sami Naji |
| Italy | Riccardo Lattanzi |
| Kuwait | Abdulrahman Al-Bakr |
| Kuwait | Jaber Al-Jalahemah |
| Kuwait | Abdulsalam Al-Yaqout |
| Saudi Arabia | Ghazi Kayal |

## First round

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

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kuwait (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Qatar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 2 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Oman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 2 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Bahrain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage

All times are local, AST (UTC+3).
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 26 March – Kuwait City | 26 March – Kuwait City |
| Kuwait | 6 |
| Kuwait | 6 | 29 March – Kuwait City | 29 March – Kuwait City |
| United Arab Emirates | 0 | 29 March – Kuwait City | 29 March – Kuwait City |
| United Arab Emirates | 0 | Kuwait | 4 |
| 27 March – Kuwait City | 27 March – Kuwait City | | Kuwait | 4 |
| 27 March – Kuwait City | 27 March – Kuwait City | Saudi Arabia | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 3 | Saudi Arabia | 0 |
| Qatar | 1 | | |
| Qatar | 1 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 29 March – Kuwait City | 29 March – Kuwait City |
| | | Qatar (pen.) | 1 (3) |
| | | United Arab Emirates | 1 (0) |

### Winners

* 3rd Arabian Gulf Cup winners
* Kuwait Third title

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 45 goals scored in 13 matches, for an average of 3.46 goals per match.
6 goals
* Jasem Yaqoub
4 goals
* Ali Al-Mula
* Fathi Kameel
* Mohammed Al-Mughnem
3 goals
* Fuad Bushaqer
* Saeed Ghurab
2 goals
* Hamad Bouhamad
* Salem Sultan
1 goal
* Hassan Ali
* Hassan Zulaikh
* Hussain Mohammed
* Mohammed Shoaib
* Saif Ali
* Anbar Bashir
* Salah Daf'allah
* Mohammed Ghanim
* Abdulkhaliq Saad
* Abdulamir Zain
* Naji Abdulmatloub
* Khaled Al-Turki
* Ali Asiri
* Mohsen Bakhit
* Salem Boshanain
* Zaid Rabee
* Suhail Salem

### Awards
#### Player of the Tournament

* Mohammed Ghanim

#### Top Scorer

* Jasem Yaqoub (6 goals)

#### Goalkeeper of the Tournament

* Ahmed Al-Tarabulsi