United Arab Emirates national football team

The first match of the team was played on 17 March 1972 against Qatar at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium and won 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 to nothing. After participating in four Gulf Cup tournaments since 1972, United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted the 1982 edition. It again finished third as did in the two previous tournaments.

In 1980, United Arab Emirates first-time qualified for the AFC Asian Cup which was held in Kuwait and were drawn with eventual winners, Kuwait, runner-up South Korea, Malaysia and Qatar in Group B. It drew 1–1 with Kuwait and lost the three other matches and finished in fifth place in the group and ninth (out of ten teams) overall. It also qualified for the next two tournaments, 1984 in Singapore and 1988 in Qatar and was again eliminated in the group stages in both. Its first victory of the tournament occurred against India on 7 December 1984, under manager Heshmat Mohajerani.

In 1984, Mohajerani resigned and was replaced with Carlos Alberto Parreira. Parreira led the team at the 1988 Asian Cup and left his position after the tournament. He was succeeded by Mário Zagallo. Zagallo led the team to the qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. However, Zagallo resigned before the tournament and Parreira returned. The team finished fourth at the 1990 World Cup's final tournament with no points, scoring two goals and conceding 11 goals. The journey was put into a 2016 documentary titled Lights of Rome.[2] After the tournament, Parreira was sacked.

At the 1992 and 1996 Asian Cups, United Arab Emirates finished fourth and second respectively for the first times. United Arab Emirates appeared in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup after being awarded a spot because Saudi Arabia was hosting the games.

United Arab Emirates missed the qualification for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon and finished in last place at the 2002 Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia. It was eliminated in the next three Asian Cup tournaments at the group stage. In 2004 and 2007 editions, UAE was all eliminated by the hand to debutants Jordan and Vietnam. In 2011, it finished the tournament goalless. At this time, coaches that managed the Emirates included Carlos Queiroz, Roy Hodgson and Dick Advocaat. In 2006, UAE appointed Bruno Metsu as the new manager. He led the Emirates to the 2007 Gulf Cup title.

After hiring foreign coaches, in 2012, United Arab Emirates appointed the Olympic team coach Mahdi Ali as the manager of the senior team. Ali began creating a squad inviting players that he had worked with at the youth level. He led the Emirates to their second Gulf Cup title in 2013. At the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, United Arab Emirates defeated Qatar 4–1 and Bahrain 2–1 and lost to Iran by a goal. As group runner-up, it faced the defending champions Japan in the quarter-final and earned a victory on penalties to advance to the last four. In the semi-finals, it lost 2–0 to the host Australia. In the third-place play-off, it beat Iraq 3–2. United Arab Emirates qualified through the AFC qualification where it finished fourth in Group B thus failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Ahmed Khalil was a top scorer in the qualification. Around this time Mahdi Ali resigned from his position.[3]

The Emirates hosted the 2019 Asian Cup, this marked the second time they hosted an AFC Asian Cup. The team had Alberto Zaccheroni as a coach. In the Asian Cup tournament, UAE proceeded to the quarter-finals where it scored its first-ever goal against Australia to gain its first-ever win against this opponent.[4] The semi-finals was between the host and Qatar.[5] Some audiences threw footwear in the pitch after Qatar scored its second goal. UAE lost 0–4 marking its first defeat to Qatar since 2001.

United Arab Emirates joined the second round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers and was placed with all-out Southeast Asian opponents. The team had already appointed the Dutch guider Bert van Marwijk. Bert was sacked after his start undergoing two away losses to Thailand and Vietnam in the qualifiers along his group stage exit in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup.[6] After this, the Emirates decided to naturalize Argentine Sebastián Tagliabúe, Brazilian Caio Canedo Corrêa and Fábio Virginio de Lima, the three South American players, having never done so since the foundation of the national team.[7] The team then experienced a period of coaching instabilities, with three different coaches, before van Marwijk resumed his duty due to crisis in option. With the COVID-19 pandemic however, the AFC decided the remaining games of the second round would be played in one country, and the United Arab Emirates were able to utilise the advantage as the host nation, ultimately u-turned the earlier misery into four consecutive wins to break through into the third round, where they faced its neighbours and the powerhouses Iran and South Korea.[8] In the third round, the UAE failed to produce a promising performance after winning just one out of six first games, a 1–0 away win over Lebanon, drew three and lost two, adding with the UAE's below average performance in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup despite reaching the quarter-finals, that was enough to sack the Dutch manager van Marwijk yet again.[9][10][11] After inconsistency in performance, the UAE appointed Argentine manager Rodolfo Arruabarrena as coach, and the team's result improved, winning two out of four games, notably an impressive 1–0 home win over already-qualified South Korea, to reach the fourth round, increased hope for the country to qualify for the first-ever World Cup since 1990, where they would face the old foe Australia, whom the UAE defeated in the latest meeting.[12] However, the UAE was unable to utilise their geographical advantage in the playoff in neighbouring Qatar, losing 1–2 to Australia by a thunderous strike at 84' by Ajdin Hrustic to deny the UAE's its potential second appearance; they later stunned South America's rising power Peru to qualify for the edition.[13]

UAE's common rivals are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Iran.[14]

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

In October 2012, the Asian Football Confederation official website published an article about the UAE national team's campaign to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, in which the team was referred to using the racial slur "sand monkey". This was the indirect result of vandalism of the Wikipedia article on the team, and the AFC was forced to apologise.[18]

As of 2022, UAE has played in 11 home stadiums. Most games have taken place 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.

Home stadiums list
Image	Stadium	Capacity	Location	Last match
	Zayed Sports City Stadium	43,206	Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi	v   Kyrgyzstan (21 January 2019; 2019 AFC Asian Cup)
	Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium	42,056	Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi	v   Argentina (16 November 2022; Friendly)
	Al Nahyan Stadium	12,201	Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi	v   Thailand (28 March 2023; Friendly)
	Hazza bin Zayed Stadium	25,053	Al Ain, Abu Dhabi	v   Australia (25 January 2019; 2019 AFC Asian Cup)
	Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium	15,000	Al Ain, Abu Dhabi	v   Kuwait (2 September 2011; 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification)
	Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium	12,000	Al Ain, Abu Dhabi	v   Australia (5 January 2011; Friendly)
	Zabeel Stadium	8,439	Dubai, Dubai	v   Gambia (29 May 2022; Friendly)
	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium	12,000	Dubai, Dubai	v   Bolivia (16 November 2018; Friendly)
	Al Maktoum Stadium	15,058	Dubai, Dubai	v   South Korea (29 March 2022; 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification)
	Rashid Stadium	12,000	Dubai, Dubai	v   Jordan (24 May 2021; Friendly)
	Sharjah Stadium	18,000	Sharjah, Sharjah	v   Uzbekistan (28 January 2009; 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification)

The UAE's traditional home kit is all-white with some red trim while their away kit is all-red with some white trim, in 2019, the away colors were black for the first time in addition, there were some green trim.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United Arab Emirates national football team kits.

Manufacturer Period Umbro 1979–1985[19] Admiral 1986–1989 Adidas 1990–1994 Puma 1995–1996 Kelme 1997–1999 Adidas 2000–2001 Umbro 2002–2005 Adidas 2006–2008 Erreà 2009–2013 Adidas 2014–present

Last Update: February 2022[20]

Position	Name
Head coach	Rodolfo Arruabarrena
Assistant coach	Saleem Abdulrahman
	Diego Markic
	Juan Agustín Gobet
	Amr Mokhtar
Goalkeeping coach	Welerson Dias
Fitness coach	Gustavo Roberi
Interpreter	Anass Elmakhtoum
Doctor	Zoran Stanković
Physiotherapist	Leandro Suzuki
	Bruno Gilberto Melo
Match Analyst	Karim Tayara

As of 28 March 2023[22]

Players in bold are still active with United Arab Emirates.

Most appearances

Adnan Al-Talyani is United Arab Emirates' most capped player with 161 appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Adnan Al-Talyani	161	52	1983–1997
2	Ismail Matar	136	36	2003–2021
3	Subait Khater	120	12	1999–2011
4	Abdulrahim Jumaa	116	13	1998–2009
	Ismail Al Hammadi	116	13	2007–2019
6	Zuhair Bakheet	112	27	1988–2002
	Abdulsalam Jumaa	112	7	1997–2010
	Walid Abbas	112	6	2008–present
9	Ali Mabkhout	109	80	2009–present
10	Muhsin Musabah	107	0	1988–1999

Top goalscorers

Ali Mabkhout is United Arab Emirates' top scorer with 80 goals.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Ali Mabkhout (list)	80	109	0.73	2009–present
2	Adnan Al-Talyani	52	161	0.32	1983–1997
3	Ahmed Khalil	48	105	0.46	2008–present
4	Ismail Matar	36	136	0.26	2003–2021
5	Mohammad Omar	28	102	0.27	1996–2009
6	Zuhair Bakheet	27	112	0.24	1988–2002
7	Saeed Al Kass	15	60	0.25	1998–2013
8	Faisal Khalil	13	61	0.21	2001–2010
	Ismail Al Hammadi	13	116	0.11	2007–2019
	Abdulrahim Jumaa	13	116	0.11	1998–2009

  Champion    Runners-up    Third place  

FIFA World Cup

Main article: United Arab Emirates at the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	M	W	D	L	GF	GA		M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1970	Part of the  United Kingdom									Part of the  United Kingdom
1974 and 1982	Did not participate									Did not participate
1986	Did not qualify									4	2	1	1	5	4
1990	Group stage	24th	3	0	0	3	2	11		9	4	4	1	16	7
1994	Did not qualify									8	6	1	1	19	4
1998										12	5	4	3	16	13
2002										14	7	2	5	31	20
2006										6	3	1	2	6	6
2010										16	4	3	9	19	24
2014										8	2	1	5	14	16
2018										18	9	3	6	37	17
2022										19	9	3	7	31	16
2026	TBD									TBD
Total	Group stage	1/22	3	0	0	3	2	11		115	51	23	42	194	127

United Arab Emirates's World Cup record
First Match	United Arab Emirates 0–2 Colombia  (9 June 1990; Bologna, Italy)
Biggest Win	—
Biggest Defeat	West Germany 5–1 United Arab Emirates  (15 June 1990; Milan, Italy)
Best Result	Group stage in 1990
Worst Result	Group stage in 1990

AFC Asian Cup

Main article: United Arab Emirates at the AFC Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	M	W	D	L	GF	GA		M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1956 to 1972	Part of the  United Kingdom									Part of the  United Kingdom
1976	Did not enter									Did not enter
1980	Group stage	9th	4	0	1	3	3	9		3	1	2	0	2	0
1984		6th	4	2	0	2	3	8		4	3	0	1	24	2
1988		8th	4	1	0	3	2	4		5	4	1	0	12	1
1992	Fourth place	4th	5	1	3	1	3	4		2	2	0	0	6	3
1996	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	2	0	8	3		Qualified as hosts
2000	Did not qualify									4	3	0	1	12	2
2004	Group stage	15th	3	0	1	2	1	5		6	4	1	1	13	5
2007		12th	3	1	0	2	3	6		6	4	1	1	11	6
2011		13th	3	0	1	2	0	4		4	3	0	1	7	1
2015	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2	10	8		6	5	1	0	18	3
2019	Semi-finals	4th	6	3	2	1	8	8		Qualified as hosts
2023	Qualified									8	6	0	2	23	7
2027	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Runners-up	2nd	44	15	11	18	41	59		48	35	6	7	128	30

United Arab Emirates's Asian Cup record
First Match	United Arab Emirates 1–1 Kuwait  (15 September 1980; Kuwait City, Kuwait)
Biggest Win	United Arab Emirates 4–1 Qatar  (11 January 2015; Canberra, Australia)
Biggest Defeat	China 5–0 United Arab Emirates  (11 December 1984; Kallang, Singapore)
Best Result	Second Place in 1996
Worst Result	Group stage in 1980, 1984, 1988, 2004, 2007, 2011

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992 and 1995	Did not qualify
1997	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	8
1999 to 2017	Did not qualify
Total	Group stage	6th	3	1	0	2	2	8

Asian Games

Asian Games
Year	Result	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1964-1982	Did not enter
1986	Quarter-finals	5	3	2	0	7	4
1990	Did not enter
1994	Quarter-finals	4	1	2	1	6	5
1998	Group stage	4	1	1	2	5	10
Total	Quarter-finals	13	5	5	3	18	19

West Asian Football Federation Championship

WAFF Championship record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2000	Did not participate
2002
2004
2007
2008
2010
2012
2014
2019
2023	Qualified as hosts
Total	1/10	-	-	-	-	-	-

Gulf Cup

Gulf Cup
Year	Result	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1972	Third place	3	1	0	2	1	11
1974	Fourth place	4	1	1	2	5	9
1976	Fifth place	6	0	2	4	4	13
1979	Sixth place	6	1	0	5	5	18
1982	Third place	5	3	0	2	7	6
1984	Fourth place	6	2	3	1	5	4
1986	Runners-up	6	3	2	1	10	7
1988	Runners-up	6	3	2	1	7	4
1990	Fifth place	4	0	2	2	2	8
1992	Fourth place	5	3	0	2	4	3
1994	Runners-up	5	3	2	0	7	1
1996	Fourth place	5	1	3	1	5	5
1998	Third place	5	2	1	2	5	7
2002	Sixth place	5	1	0	4	3	7
2003	Fifth place	6	2	1	3	6	7
2004	Group stage	3	0	2	1	4	5
2007	Champions	5	4	0	1	8	1
2009	Group stage	3	1	1	1	3	4
2010	Semi-finals	4	1	2	1	3	2
2013	Champions	5	5	0	0	10	3
2014	Third place	5	2	2	1	7	5
2017	Runners-up	5	1	4	0	1	0
2019	Group Stage	3	1	0	2	5	6
2023	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	2	4
2024	Qualified
Total	Champions	114	41	29	41	119	139

FIFA Arab Cup

FIFA Arab Cup
Year	Round	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1963	Did not enter
1964
1966
1985
1988
1992
1998	Fourth place	4	1	0	3	6	8
2002	Did not enter
2009	Cancelled
2012	Did not enter
2021	Quarter-Finals	4	2	0	2	3	7
Total	2/10	8	3	0	5	9	15

Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games
Year	Round	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1976	Did not enter
1985	Group stage	3	1	0	2	2	3
1997	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	5
1999	Second round	5	1	2	2	5	5
2007	Fourth place	4	1	1	2	3	6
2011	Did not enter
Total	Fourth place	15	4	3	8	13	19

Other Tournaments

Other
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1973 Palestine Cup of Nations	Group stage	8th	4	0	2	2	3	7
1975 Palestine Cup of Nations	Group stage	10th	2	0	0	2	0	8
1981 Merdeka Tournament	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	6	10
1982 Merdeka Tournament	Group stage	5th	4	1	0	3	5	8
1994 Friendship Tournament	Third place	3rd	3	0	1	2	1	3
1996 Friendship Tournament	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	4	2
1998 Friendship Tournament	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	4	1
1999 Friendship Tournament	Runner-ups	2nd	3	1	2	0	7	5
2000 Oman Cup	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	2	1
2000 LG Cup	Champions	1st	2	1	1	0	2	1
2005 Kirin Cup	Champions	1st	2	1	1	0	1	0
2005 International Arab Friendly Tournament	Runner-ups	2nd	2	0	2	0	1	1
2007 Four Nations Tournament	Fourth place	4th	2	0	0	2	0	6
2008 Dubai Challenge Cup	Fourth place	4th	2	0	1	1	0	1
2009 UAE International Cup	Runner-ups	2nd	2	0	1	1	0	1
2013 OSN Cup	Champions	1st	2	1	1	0	5	3
2016 King's Cup	Fourth place	4th	2	0	0	2	1	4
2018 King's Cup	Fourth place	4th	2	0	0	2	1	3
Total	6 titles	1st	48	14	14	20	43	67

As of 28 March 2023[23]

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Algeria	7	2	2	3	5	5	0
Andorra	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Angola	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Argentina	1	0	0	1	0	5	–5
Armenia	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1
Australia	7	1	2	4	2	7	−5
Azerbaijan	1	0	1	0	3	3	0
Bahrain	30	13	6	12	50	45	+5
Bangladesh	5	5	0	0	21	1	+20
Belarus	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Benin	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1
Bolivia	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	8	−8
Brunei	2	2	0	0	16	0	+16
Bulgaria	6	1	0	5	4	14	−10
Chile	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
China	11	2	5	4	7	17	−10
Colombia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Czech Republic	2	0	1	1	1	6	−5
Denmark	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Dominican Republic	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4
Egypt	9	1	4	4	6	10	−4
Estonia	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
Finland	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Gabon	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Gambia	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Georgia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Germany[lower-alpha 1]	3	0	0	3	3	14	−11
Haiti	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Honduras	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1
Hong Kong	3	2	1	0	9	1	+8
Hungary	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5
Iceland	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1
India	14	10	2	2	32	7	+25
Indonesia	6	4	1	1	18	8	+10
Iran	18	1	3	14	4	26	−22
Iraq	30	7	12	11	29	43	−14
Japan	20	5	9	6	18	22	−4
Jordan	18	11	4	3	30	15	+15
Kazakhstan	4	3	0	1	11	6	+5
Kenya	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Kuwait	42	16	8	18	49	75	−26
Kyrgyzstan	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Laos	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9
Lebanon	14	9	4	1	25	13	+11
Libya	4	1	2	1	8	5	+3
Lithuania	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Malaysia	12	10	0	2	32	7	+25
Mauritania	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Mali	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Malta	2	0	2	0	1	1	0
Mexico	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Moldova	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Morocco	4	1	3	0	4	3	+1
Myanmar	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
Nepal	1	1	0	0	11	0	+11
New Zealand	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
Niger	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4
North Korea	11	3	4	4	8	11	−3
Norway	3	0	2	1	2	5	−3
Oman	33	15	12	6	45	24	+21
Pakistan	5	5	0	0	17	4	+13
Palestine	5	2	2	1	6	2	+4
Paraguay	2	0	1	1	0	1	–1
Peru	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Philippines	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4
Poland	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8
Qatar	33	10	9	14	36	46	−10
Romania	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Russia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Saudi Arabia	36	8	8	20	27	51	−24
Serbia[lower-alpha 2]	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3
Senegal	4	1	2	1	7	8	−1
Singapore	6	5	1	0	16	5	+11
Slovakia	3	0	0	3	2	5	−3
Slovenia	2	0	2	0	3	3	0
South Africa	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
South Korea	23	3	6	14	17	42	−25
Sri Lanka	8	8	0	0	35	3	+32
Sudan	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4
Sweden	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1
Switzerland	4	2	0	2	3	4	−1
Syria	24	13	8	3	37	18	+19
Tajikistan	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1
Thailand	13	8	3	2	21	12	+9
Timor-Leste	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9
Togo	2	1	0	1	3	5	−2
Trinidad and Tobago	2	0	1	1	3	5	−2
Tunisia	5	0	0	5	2	10	−8
Turkmenistan	4	2	1	1	9	4	+5
Ukraine	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Uruguay	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Uzbekistan	17	9	4	4	25	19	+6
Venezuela	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6
Vietnam	7	5	0	2	16	6	+10
Yemen[lower-alpha 3]	13	10	0	3	29	13	+16
Total	605	243	158	207	852	743	+109

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United Arab Emirates national football team.

• UAE Football Association official website (in Arabic and English)