Gulf Cup — how to play

Last updated · ⁨August 2026⁩

Build a 15-player squad from the eight Gulf Cup nations, pick your best eleven each round, and score points on how your players do for their country. Lineups, captains, substitutes and scoring all work exactly as in the UAE League game; what is different is below.

Your squad

You have a budget of 100.0m to sign 15 players: 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards.

The tournament is five rounds: three group rounds (GW1–GW3), the semi-final (SF) and the final (F). There is no third-place match.

Players from any one country: at most 3 in the group stage, 5 for the semi-final, 8 for the final.

For the semi-final and the final your budget is 105.0m. Half the countries have gone home and the cheaper players went with them, so the same 15 slots cost more.

You can change your squad freely until the first deadline.

Your lineup

Each gameweek you field 11 starters and name 4 substitutes. Only your starters score, unless you play the Bench Boost chip.

Your formation must always have exactly 1 goalkeeper, at least 3 defenders, at least 2 midfielders and at least 1 forward — so 3-4-3, 4-4-2, 5-2-3, 5-4-1 and everything in between are all legal.

The deadline is one hour before the first match of the gameweek kicks off. Once it passes, your team is locked for that gameweek — lineup, captain and chips included.

Captain & vice-captain

Your captain scores double points. Choose them well — a big captain haul can decide your gameweek.

If your captain doesn't play a single minute, the armband passes to your vice-captain automatically.

Substitutes & auto-subs

Your bench is ordered: the first substitute comes on before the second, and so on. Your reserve goalkeeper only ever replaces your starting goalkeeper.

If a starter plays no minutes, they're automatically replaced by the highest-priority substitute who did play — as long as your formation stays legal.

Auto-substitutions are only applied once every match in the gameweek has finished, so your live score reflects your actual picked eleven until then.

How points are scored

Pick your position. Most of the scoring is the same for everyone — goals, clean sheets and goals conceded are not.

Playing 1–59 minutes+1

Playing 60+ minutes+2

Goal+6

Assist+3

Penalty missed−2

Yellow card−1

Red card−3

Own goal−2

Clean sheet+4

Every 2 goals conceded−1

Penalty saved+5

Bonus points

Every player who features in a match is given a BPS score — a tally of what he did with the ball, without it, and to the opposition. It is used for one thing only: to rank the players in that match.

The BPS score itself never reaches your team's total. Only the 3, 2 and 1 awarded off the back of it do — to the top three by BPS, added to their score like a goal or a clean sheet. Whoever takes the 3 is the match's man of the match, which is a label and worth nothing extra on its own.

Players level on BPS all receive the higher award, and the places they use up are skipped. Two tied at the top both get 3 and the next player gets 1, not 2. Two tied for second both get 2 and nobody gets 1. A player who did not get on the pitch scores no BPS and cannot be awarded bonus at all.

What earns BPS

Everything below is added up for each player in the match. Most of it is small and accumulates over a shift; a goal is the one item large enough to decide the ranking on its own.

Goal+12

Clean sheet+12

Penalty saved+15

Save+3

Each goal conceded−4

Playing up to 60 minutes+3

Playing more than 60 minutes+6

Goal from the penalty spot+12

Assist+9

Big chance created+3

Shot on target+2

Tackle won+2

Key pass+1

Successful dribble+1

Completed cross+1

Foul won+1

Every 2 clearances, blocks and interceptions+1

Every 3 ball recoveries+1

Pass accuracy of 70% / 80% / 90%, from 30 passes+2 / +4 / +6

Shot off target−1

Caught offside−1

Foul committed−1

Yellow card−3

Penalty missed−6

Penalty given away−6

Own goal−6

Red card−9

Transfers

Group stage: 2 free transfers before GW2 and 2 before GW3. Unused ones do not carry over.

Semi-final and final: unlimited free transfers before each, so you can replace players whose country is out.

Any transfer beyond your free allowance costs 4 points, deducted from that round's score.

Chips

Three chips, each played once in the whole tournament. There is no Wildcard.

Bench Boost — your four substitutes score too.

Triple Captain — your captain scores triple instead of double.

Two Captains — your vice-captain doubles as well.

Leagues

Create or join private leagues with a share code. A Gulf Cup league has two tables on the same code: fantasy and predictions.

Gulf Cup points are separate from your UAE League season.

Fair play & the fine print

Fantasy UAE League is an independent, unofficial game. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the UAE Pro League, any of its clubs or players, or any data provider. All club and player names are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification only.