The United Arab Emirates national football team (Arabic: منتخب الإمَارَاتُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ الْمُتَّحِدَة لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم) represents United Arab Emirates in men's international football and serves under the auspices of the country's Football Association.
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 FIFA 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.
UAE players before playing against Australia in the quarter-finals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup
At the 1992 and 1996 AFC Asian Cups, United Arab Emirates finished fourth and runners-up 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.
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 Arabian Gulf Cup title in 2013.
At the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, United Arab Emirates defeated Qatar 4–1 and Bahrain 2–1 but lost to Iran by a goal. As group runners-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, United Arab Emirates lost 2–0 to the host Australia. In the third-place play-off, United Arab Emirates defeated Iraq 3–2. United Arab Emirates qualified through the 2018 FIFA World Cup 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]
United Arab Emirates then hosted the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, this marked the second time they hosted an AFC Asian Cup. The team had Italian Alberto Zaccheroni as their coach. In the AFC 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 FIFA 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,[8][9] and with the UAE chosen to host Group G, they were able to utilize the home-field 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.[10] 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.[11][12][13] 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.[14] 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 and by mistake of Ali Salmeen to deny the UAE's its potential second appearance; they later stunned South America's rising power Peru to qualify for the edition.[15]
The rivalry with Qatar is a competitive one in the Arabian Gulf Cup meeting on multiple occasions. Due to the Qatar diplomatic crisis, increasing tensions had been witnessed, with the captain of UAE under-19 youth team refused to shake hands with Qatar's youth captain in 2018 AFC U-19 Championship held in Indonesia; in this tournament, the UAE beat Qatar 2–1 but still crashed out from the group stage while Qatar would recover to qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[17] As of 2020, Qatar and UAE have played 31 official matches, most of which was held competitively in the Arabian Gulf Cup, it started off with the United Arab Emirates beating Qatar 1–0. They only played 2 friendly games and the last friendly was held in 2011 which ended with an Emirati victory.
In the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, hosted by the UAE, Qatar overran the UAE for the first time since 2001 with the result 4–0, with heavy tensions and violence occurred between two and Emirati supporters cheering anti-Qatari chants.[18] In the year prior to the 2026 World Cup qualification fourth round, the UAE achieved notable victories over Qatar, demonstrating a shift in momentum in their rivalry. On 5 September 2024, the UAE defeated Qatar 3–1 in Doha during the third round of World Cup qualifiers, overturning an early goal by Qatar to secure a comeback win with goals from Harib Suhail, Khalid Al Dhanhani, and Ali Saleh. Later, on 19 November 2024, the UAE delivered a historic 5–0 victory against Qatar in Abu Dhabi, marking their largest win over Qatar in history. Fabio Lima starred in the match with four goals, complemented by Yahya Al Ghassani's strike, showcasing a dominant performance that boosted the UAE's standing in the qualification group.[19][20]
During the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification fourth round fixture between the two nations, riots broke out as Emirati fans invaded the pitch while throwing plastic bottles and footwear, as a result of a clear refereeing injustice throughout the match, after Qatar scored a goal. With Sultan Adel scoring late for the UAE, Qatar would win the match 2–1 and secure a qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup while the UAE would qualify for the fifth round instead.[21][22] The match also sparked significant controversy regarding the officiating, as the decisive match was stopped 92 times with numerous decisions by the referee and the match's time wasting, which the actual playing time was 48 minutes out of 109,[23] were widely criticized by Emirati fans, analysts, and media outlets. Observers highlighted several instances where fouls and potential penalty situations in favor of the UAE were not awarded, including a crucial corner kick that was ignored. Conversely, minor infractions by UAE players were frequently called as fouls, and several yellow cards were issued without clear justification. Additionally, physical challenges and aggressive behavior by Qatari players against Emirati players were perceived to go unpunished, further fueling claims of biased officiating. Critics also questioned the neutrality of the venue, noting that the match was played in conditions perceived as favoring Qatar. The cumulative effect of these issues, along with the inconsistent management of added time, led to heightened tensions among fans and ultimately contributed to the pitch invasions and violent reactions following Qatar's goals.[24][25] While no formal protest was lodged with FIFA or the AFC, the perceived lack of fairness became a central talking point in the aftermath of the game.[26]
Saudi Arabia
Another major rival the UAE takes on Arabian Gulf Cup many times, the two teams have met in the AFC Asian Cup twice, first in the semi-finals of the 1992 edition which ended in a Saudi victory and second in the final of the 1996 edition in which UAE hosted, the game ended in a goalless draw which meant the game had to be decided in penalties, the game ended with Saudi Arabia taking home their 3rd title with the penalty scoreline being 4–2, this remains the only time the Emirates qualified for the final meanwhile this would also be the last time the Saudis would win an Asian Cup as they would lose the next two finals they qualified for in 2000 and 2007. When the countries meet in qualifier matches, the matchup has been nicknamed "clash of titans" as both countries have been some of the more successful teams in the Arabian Peninsula.[27]
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.
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.[29]
The following 23 players were called up for the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup in December 2025.[33] Caps and goals correct as of 15 December 2025, after the match against Morocco.
In recent years, particularly after 2019, the United Arab Emirates began granting citizenship to football players on a wider scale, following a model seen in countries such as France and Qatar and benefiting from FIFA's more relaxed eligibility criteria. Prior to this period, the presence of naturalized players in the Emirati national setup had been relatively rare, with Ismael Ahmed being a notable exception. The pace of naturalization subsequently increased, largely on the basis of the five-year residency requirement. Among the first high-profile cases were Sebastián Tagliabué of Al Wahda, and Fábio Lima of Al Wasl and Caio Canedo of Al Ain, who all received Emirati citizenship in early 2020. By March 2025, the national team had included twelve naturalized players in its squad: seven Brazilian-borns, one English-born, one Moroccan-born, one Tunisian-born, one Ivorian-born, and the remaining fifteen were Emirati-born.[38]
Notes
↑North Korea chose Riyadh as their home site for their match against the United Arab Emirates due to "security concerns".[30]
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(19 January 2026) [1] 
United Arab Emirates 1–0 Qatar 
Brunei 0–12 United Arab Emirates 
