| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Oman |
| Dates | 15–28 October |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Kuwait (8th title) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 35 (2.33 per match) |
←1994 1998 → | |
The13th Arabian Gulf Cup (Arabic:كأس الخليج العربي)[1] was held inOman, in October 1996.Kuwait won the tournament for the record-extending 8th time.
Iraq continued to be banned from the tournament over its invasion ofKuwait in 1990.
The teams played a single round-robin style competition. The team achieving first place in the overall standings was the tournament winner.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kuwait | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 12 |
 Qatar | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 10 |
 Saudi Arabia | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 8 |
 United Arab Emirates | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
 Bahrain | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 2 |
 Oman | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 2 |
| 13th Arabian Gulf Cup winners |
|---|
 Kuwait 8th title |
