United Arab Emirates national football team

United Arab Emirates

Nickname(s)	The White Jersey Eyal Zayed (Zayed's sons)
Association	U.A.E. Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Mahdi Ali
Captain	Ismail Matar
Most caps	Adnan Al Talyani (161)
Top scorer	Adnan Al Talyani (52)
FIFA code	UAE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	64 6 (24 November 2016)
Highest	40 (November–December 1998)
Lowest	138 (January 2012)
Elo ranking
Current	60 (28 June 2016)
Highest	24 (15 January 2015)
Lowest	140 (September 1981)
First international
United Arab Emirates 4–0 Qatar  (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; March 17, 1972)
Biggest win
Brunei 0–14 United Arab Emirates (B. S. Begawan, Brunei; April 14, 2001)
Biggest defeat
United Arab Emirates 0–8 Brazil  (Abu Dhabi, UAE; November 12, 2005)  Kuwait 7-0  United Arab Emirates (Baghdad, Iraq; April 1, 1979)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 1990)
Best result	Group stage, 1990
Asian Cup
Appearances	9 (first in 1980)
Best result	Second Place, 1996
Confederations Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 1997)
Best result	Group Stage, 1997

The United Arab Emirates national football team (Arabic: منتخب الإمارات العربية المتحدة لكرة القدم‎‎) represents the United Arab Emirates in association football and is controlled by the United Arab Emirates Football Association, the governing body for football in United Arab Emirates and competes in AFC. They were for a time managed by legendary English manager Don Revie.

United Arab Emirates' home ground varies. Most home games have been played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi with Abu Dhabi's Al Jazira Stadium and Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain as other venues

It has made one World Cup appearance, in 1990 in Italy, but lost all three of its games to Colombia, West Germany and Yugoslavia. Two years later the UAE took fourth place in the 1992 Asian Cup, and runner-up in 1996 as hosts of the tournament. In both tournaments their final match was lost on penalty kicks. They also won the Gulf Cup of Nations on two occasions – in 2007 when they won a title for the first time in their history and then in 2013. They finished third in the recent AFC Asian Cup and will be hosting the next edition in 2019.

History

Early years

The first match of UAE national football team was played on 17 March 1972, four months after the union of the United Arab Emirates. They played against Qatar at Riyadh's Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium and UAE won 1–0 with the only goal scored by Ahmed Chowbi. Then, the team faced three other Arabian countries, losing 4–0 and 7–0 to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait respectively and beating Bahrain 3 nothing.

After participating in four Gulf Cup of Nations since 1972, the UAE hosted the 1982 edition. They again finished third, as they did in the two previous tournaments.

First Asian Cup appearances

In 1980, UAE qualified for the first time for the AFC Asian Cup, which was held in Kuwait. They were drawn with eventual winners, Kuwait, runner-up South Korea, Malaysia and Qatar in Group B. They drew 1–1 with Kuwait but lost the three other matches and finished their first appearance at the tournament in fifth place in their group and ninth (out of ten teams) overall.

They also qualified for next two tournaments, 1984 in Singapore and 1988 in Qatar and were again eliminated in the group stages in both. Their first victory of the tournament occurred against India on 7 December 1984 under manager Heshmat Mohajerani.

1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy

In 1984, Mohajerani resigned as UAE head coach and was replaced with former Brazil manager Carlos Alberto Parreira. Parreira led the country at the 1988 AFC Asian Cup and left his position after the tournament. He was succeeded by Brazilian World Cup winning coach Mário Zagallo. Zagallo led the country to qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. However, Zagallo resigned before the tournament and Parreira returned as head coach to lead UAE at the tournament.

They were drawn at Group D along with eventual winner West Germany, Colombia and Yugoslavia. They lost 2–0 to Colombia, 5–1 to West Germany and 4–1 to Yugoslavia. They finished fourth with no points, scoring two goals and conceding eleven goals. UAE's first goal at the tournament was scored by Khalid Ismaïl against West Germany. After the tournament, Parreira was sacked. Two years later, at the 1992 AFC Asian Cup, UAE finished in fourth place, their best finish up to that date.

1996 AFC Asian Cup

UAE hosted 1996 AFC Asian Cup. They hired Croatian coach Tomislav Ivić one year before the tournament and were drawn in Group A along with Kuwait, South Korea and Indonesia. They drew 1–1 with South Korea in the opening match, then defeated Kuwait 3–2 and Indonesia 2–0 to qualify as group winners with seven points. In the quarter-finals, they beat Iraq 1–0 with a golden goal scored by Abdulrahman Ibrahim in the 103rd minute in extra time. They again faced Kuwait, this time at the semi-finals and won 1–0 to qualify to the final for the first time. In the final, they lost to Saudi Arabia in a penalty shout-out and finished the tournament as runner-up, which is still their best finish in the AFC Asian Cup.

The tournament was also considered to be one of the best tournaments held since 1956. The tournament had an average 3.08 goals per game with 80 goals scored, 49 goals higher than the previous edition.

UAE also appeared in 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup after being awarded a spot because Asian winners Saudi Arabia was hosting the games. They lost the first match 2–0 to Uruguay. Then, they defeated South Africa 1–0. In their final match, they were defeated 6–1 by Czech Republic and missed their chance to qualify for the next round finishing third in their group.

Dark years

Despite their good performances at previous Asian Cup, UAE missed qualification for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon. They also finished in last place at the 2002 Gulf Cup of Nations.

They were eliminated in the next three AFC Asian Cup tournaments at the group stage. Their worst performance was in 2011 when they finished the tournament goalless. At this time, many notable coaches managed UAE, including Carlos Queiroz, Roy Hodgson and Dick Advocaat. In 2006, UAE appointed Senegal's 2002 FIFA World Cup head coach, Bruno Metsu as their new manager. He led UAE to the 2007 Gulf Cup of Nations title, the country's first major achievement.

Recent successes

After hiring many notable European coaches, in 2012, UAE appointed Olympic team coach Mahdi Ali as the new manager of the national team. Ali previously led the country to their first ever appearance at the Olympic Games.

Ali began creating a young squad for UAE, inviting many players that he had worked with at youth level. He led UAE to their second Gulf Cup of Nations title in 2013.

2015 AFC Asian Cup

UAE's form at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup was a surprise to many. They were drawn in Group C along with Iran, Qatar and Bahrain. They defeated Qatar 4–1 in their first match. At the next match, they defeated Bahrain 2–1 which qualified them for the knockout stage. In the group's final game, UAE lost 1–0 to Iran, in which Iran scored a controversial goal that appeared to be offside. However, the gulf team advanced as group runner-up. They faced defending champions Japan in the quarter-final and earned a shock victory on penalties to advance to the last four. However, they lost 2–0 to host country Australia in the semi-finals. In the third place play-off, they beat Iraq 3–2 and finished the tournament in the third place. UAE will be hosting the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification

UAE had to face Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Timor-Leste and Malaysia in the Group A of the AFC Qualification Second Round. They ended second in the Group behind Saudi Arabia and in front of Palestine, Malaysia and Timor-Leste. In the Third Round, they will be facing Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Thailand in Group B.

Rivalries

UAE has plenty of rivals like  Uzbekistan , Saudi Arabia,  Qatar and  Bahrain, however the rivalry with Saudi Arabia is often considered to be the biggest and many Emirati football fans did not enjoy the recent match against Saudi Arabia in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Nicknames

The United Arab Emirates is known by supporters and the media as Al-Abyad, meaning The White jersey and also Eyal Zayed which means Zayed's sons.

Home stadium

UAE's main national stadium is Sheikh Zayed Stadium, located in capital Abu Dhabi. However, UAE has also used Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (Al Jazira Stadium) and Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

Historical Kits

1990 Home

1990 Away

1992 Asian Cup Home

1994 Asian Games Home

1994 Asian Games Away

Coaching staff

Head coach	Mahdi Ali
Assistant coach	Hassan Abdouly
Fitness coach	Patrice Coutard
Goalkeeping coach	Hassan Ismail
Analyzer	Jean Martinez

Players

Current squad

• The following 23 players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers:
• Match date: 15 November 2016
• Opposition:  Iraq
• Caps and goals are correct as of 6 October 2016, after the match against  Thailand.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Majed Naser	(1984-04-01) 1 April 1984	70	0	Al Ahli
22	1GK	Ahmed Mahmoud	(1989-03-30) 30 March 1989	3	0	Baniyas
	1GK	Ali Khasif	(1987-06-09) 9 June 1987	11	0	Al-Jazira
3	2DF	Walid Abbas	(1985-06-11) 11 June 1985	69	5	Al Ahli
6	2DF	Mohanad Salem	(1985-03-01) 1 March 1985	47	2	Al-Ain
8	2DF	Hamdan Al-Kamali	(1989-05-12) 12 May 1989	33	5	Al-Wahda
9	2DF	Abdulaziz Haikal	(1990-09-10) 10 September 1990	29	5	Al Ahli
14	2DF	Abdelaziz Sanqour	(1989-05-07) 7 May 1989	36	1	Al Ahli
18	2DF	Mohammed Fawzi	(1990-02-22) 22 February 1990	4	0	Al-Ain
19	2DF	Ismail Ahmed	(1983-07-07) 7 July 1983	26	1	Al-Ain
24	2DF	Mohammed Marzooq	(1989-01-23) 23 January 1989	0	1	Al Shabab
4	3MF	Habib Fardan	(1990-03-12) 12 March 1990	48	6	Al Ahli
10	3MF	Omar Abdulrahman	(1991-09-20) 20 September 1991	57	6	Al-Ain
13	3MF	Khamis Ismail	(1989-08-16) 16 August 1989	27	3	Al Ahli
15	3MF	Ismail Al Hammadi	(1988-07-01) 1 July 1988	94	14	Al Ahli
16	3MF	Mohamed Abdulrahman	(1989-01-01) 1 January 1989	27	1	Al-Ain
20	3MF	Hassan Ibrahim	(1990-10-19) 19 October 1990	5	1	Al Shabab
21	3MF	Tareq Ahmed	(1988-03-12) 12 March 1988	4	0	Al-Nasr
	3MF	Khalfan Mubarak	(1995-05-09) 9 May 1995	0	0	Al Jazira
2	4FW	Salem Saleh	(1991-01-14) 14 January 1991	13	7	Al-Nasr
	4FW	Ismail Matar	(1983-04-07) 7 April 1983	114	36	Al-Wahda
7	4FW	Ali Mabkhout	(1990-10-05) 5 October 1990	46	38	Al-Jazira
11	4FW	Ahmed Khalil	(1991-06-08) 8 June 1991	87	49	Al Ahli

Recent and forthcoming fixtures

2016

2017

Tournament records

FIFA World Cup record

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1974	Not eligible to enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Group stage	24th	3	0	0	3	2	11
1994 to 2014	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2018	TBD	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2022	TBD	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	Round 1	1/22	3	0	0	3	2	11

* Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

AFC Asian Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1956 to 1976	Did not enter
1980	Group stage	9th	4	0	1	3	3	9
1984	Group stage	6th	4	2	0	2	3	8
1988	Group stage	8th	4	1	0	3	2	4
1992	Fourth place	4th	3	1	2	0	2	1
1996	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	2	0	8	3
2000	Did not qualify
2004	Group stage	15th	3	0	1	2	1	5
2007	Group stage	12th	3	1	0	2	3	6
2011	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	0	4
2015	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	10	8
2019	Qualified	–	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	9/16	Second place	36	12	8	16	32	48

FIFA Confederations Cup record

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA
1992	Did not qualify
1995
1997	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	8
1999	Did not qualify
2001
2003
2005
2009
2013
2017
Total	Group stage	1/10	3	1	0	2	2	8

Gulf Cup of Nations record

Year	Host Country	Place
1970	Bahrain	Did not enter
1972	Saudi Arabia	Third place
1974	Kuwait	Fourth place
1976	Qatar	Third place
1979	Iraq	Sixth place
1982	UAE	Third place
1984	Oman	Fourth place
1986	Bahrain	Runners-up
1988	Saudi Arabia	Runners-up
1990	Kuwait	Fifth place
1992	Qatar	Fourth place
1994	UAE	Runners-up
1996	Oman	Fourth place
1998	Bahrain	Third place
2002	Saudi Arabia	Sixth place
2003	Kuwait	Fifth place
2004	Qatar	Group stage
2007	UAE	Champions
2009	Oman	Group Stage
2010	Yemen	Semi-finals
2013	UAE	Champions
2014	Saudi Arabia	Third place

Records

Active players are shown in Bold. As of October 7, 2016.

Honors

Major competitions

• AFC Asian Cup

Runner-up (1): 1996

Third place (1): 2015

Fourth place (1): 1992

• Gulf Cup of Nations

Winners (2): 2007, 2013

Runner-up (3): 1986, 1988, 1994

Third place (5): 1972, 1976, 1982, 1998, 2014

Minor competitions

• Kirin Cup

Winners (1): 2005

See also

• Football in the United Arab Emirates
• United Arab Emirates women's national football team
• United Arab Emirates national under-23 football team
• United Arab Emirates national under-20 football team
• United Arab Emirates national under-17 football team

References

Notes

External links

• UAE Football Association official website (Arabic)