United Arab Emirates national football team

United Arab Emirates
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Al Abyad (The White One); Eyal Zayed (Sons of Zayed)
Association	UAE Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Bert van Marwijk
Captain	Walid Abbas
Most caps	Adnan Al Talyani (161)
Top scorer	Ali Mabkhout (76)
FIFA code	UAE
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	63 (19 December 2024)
Highest	40 (November – December 1998)
Lowest	138 (January 2012)
First international
	United Arab Emirates 1–0 Qatar ; (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 17 March 1972)
Biggest win
	Brunei 0–12 United Arab Emirates ; (Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; 14 April 2001)
Biggest defeat
	United Arab Emirates 0–8 Brazil ; (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 12 November 2005)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 1990)
Best result	Group stage (1990)
Asian Cup
Appearances	10 (first in 1980)
Best result	Runners-up (1996)

The United Arab Emirates national football team (Template:Lang-ar) represents United Arab Emirates in international association football and serves under the auspices of the country's Football Association.

It has made one World Cup appearance in 1990 in Italy and lost all three of its games. United Arab Emirates took fourth place in the 1992 Asian Cup and runner-up in 1996 as host. It won the Arabian Gulf Cup in 2007 and 2013. It finished third in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and hosted the 2019 edition which it was eliminated in the semi-finals.

History

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.^[3] 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 UAE 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. It lost 2–0 to the host Australia in the semi-finals. 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.^[4] In October 2012, the Asian Football Confederation official website published an article about UAE's campaign to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in which the team was referred to as the "Sand Monkeys." This was the indirect result of editing of the Wikipedia article on the team and AFC was forced to apologise for what was perceived as a racist slur.^[5]^[6]

In 2015, it was announced that the Emirates will host the 2019 Asian Cup, this marks the second time they hosted an AFC Asian Cup. The team had Alberto Zaccheroni as a coach. In the 2019 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.^[7] The semi-finals was between the host and Qatar.^[8] 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,^[9] with violence occurred and some cheering "anti-Qatari" chants.^[10] The rivalry with Qatar is also witnessed in the Arabian Gulf Cup meeting in multiple occasions. Some other opponents of UAE are Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran.^[11]

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.^[12] 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.^[13]

Stadium

As of 2021, 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 Syria (26 March 2019; Friendly)
	Al Nahyan Stadium	12,201	Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi	v Saudi Arabia (21 March 2019; 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 Vietnam (15 June 2021; 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification)
	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium	12,000	Dubai, Dubai	v Bolivia (16 November 2018; Friendly)
	Al Maktoum Stadium	15,058	Dubai, Dubai	v Bahrain (16 November 2020; Friendly)
	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)

Kit

UAE has utilized white with some red trim as its home colors and red with some white trim as its away colors. In 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the away colors were black with some green trim for the first time.

Manufacturer	Period
Umbro	1979–1985^[14]
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–

Results and fixtures

2021

12 January 2021 Friendly	United Arab Emirates	0–0	Iraq	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
19:30 UTC+4		Report		Stadium: Zabeel Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

29 March 2021 Friendly	United Arab Emirates	6–0	India	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
19:00 UTC+4	Mabkhout 12', 32' (pen.), 60' Ibrahim 64' Lima 71' Tagliabúe 84'	Report		Stadium: Zabeel Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Elges Tantachev (Uzbekistan)

24 May 2021 Friendly	Jordan	1–5	United Arab Emirates	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:45 UTC+4	Al-Saify 54'	Report	Mabkhout 17', 29', 50' Ibrahim 32' Caio 89'	Stadium: Rashid Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Ali Al-Samahiji (Bahrain)

3 June 2021 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	4–0	Malaysia	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:45 UTC+4	Mabkhout 19', 90+1' Lima 83', 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Zabeel Stadium Attendance: 1,127 Referee: Kim Dae-Yong (South Korea)

7 June 2021 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	3–1	Thailand	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:45 UTC+4	Caio 14' Lima 33' Jumaa 90+4'	Report	Suphanat 54'	Stadium: Zabeel Stadium Attendance: 980 Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

11 June 2021 World Cup qualification	Indonesia	0–5	United Arab Emirates	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:45 UTC+4		Report	Mabkhout 22', 49' (pen.) Lima 28', 58' Tagliabúe 86'	Stadium: Zabeel Stadium Attendance: 963 Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

15 June 2021 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	3–2	Vietnam	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:45 UTC+4	Salmeen 32' Mabkhout 40' (pen.) Khamees 50'	Report	Nguyễn Tiến Linh 85' Trần Minh Vương 90+3'	Stadium: Zabeel Stadium Attendance: 1,355 Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

2 September 2021 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	v	Lebanon	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:45 UTC+4				Stadium: Zabeel Stadium

7 September 2021 World Cup qualification	Syria	v	United Arab Emirates	Amman, Jordan
				Stadium: King Abdullah II Stadium

7 October 2021 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	v	Iran	United Arab Emirates
				Stadium: TBD

12 October 2021 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	v	Iraq	United Arab Emirates
				Stadium: TBD

11 November 2021 World Cup qualification	South Korea	v	United Arab Emirates	South Korea
				Stadium: TBD

16 November 2021 World Cup qualification	Lebanon	v	United Arab Emirates	Lebanon
				Stadium: TBD

30 November 2021 Arab Cup	United Arab Emirates	v	Syria	Doha, Qatar
				Stadium: Ras Abu Aboud Stadium

3 December 2021 Arab Cup	Mauritania	v	United Arab Emirates	Doha, Qatar
				Stadium: Ras Abu Aboud Stadium

6 December 2021 Arab Cup	Tunisia	v	United Arab Emirates	Doha, Qatar
				Stadium: Al Thumama Stadium

2022

27 January 2022 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	v	Syria	United Arab Emirates
				Stadium: TBD

1 February 2022 World Cup qualification	Iran	v	United Arab Emirates	Iran
				Stadium: TBD

24 March 2022 World Cup qualification	Iraq	v	United Arab Emirates	Iraq
				Stadium: TBD

29 March 2022 World Cup qualification	United Arab Emirates	v	South Korea	United Arab Emirates
				Stadium: TBD

Current staff

Last Update: December 2020^[15]

Head coach	Bert van Marwijk
Assistant coach	Roel Coumans
Assistant coach	John Metgod
Assistant coach	Mark van Bommel
Assistant coach	Taco van den Velde
Fitness coach	Hassan Yaqoob
Goalkeeping coach	Mohamed Al-Faraj

Doctor	Ertugrul Karanlik
Physiotherapist	Khalil Muftah
Physiotherapist	Rashid Hameed

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the training camp in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.^[16]
Caps and goals as of 15 June 2021 after the match against Vietnam.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Ali Khasif	(1987-06-09) 9 June 1987 (age 37)	57	0	Al Jazira
1GK	Fahad Al-Dhanhani	(1991-09-03) 3 September 1991 (age 33)	2	0	Baniyas
1GK	Adel Al-Hosani	(1989-08-23) 23 August 1989 (age 35)	1	0	Sharjah
1GK	Mohamed Al-Shamsi	(1997-01-04) 4 January 1997 (age 27)	4	0	Al Wahda

2DF	Mohammed Al-Attas	(1997-08-05) 5 August 1997 (age 27)	11	1	Al Jazira
2DF	Walid Abbas (Captain)	(1985-06-11) 11 June 1985 (age 39)	95	6	Shabab Al Ahli
2DF	Shahin Abdulrahman	(1992-11-16) 16 November 1992 (age 32)	9	0	Sharjah
2DF	Khalifa Al Hammadi	(1998-11-06) 6 November 1998 (age 26)	13	0	Al Jazira
2DF	Hassan Al-Moharrami	(1996-06-06) 6 June 1996 (age 28)	4	0	Baniyas
2DF	Mahmoud Khamees	(1987-10-28) 28 October 1987 (age 37)	36	2	Al Wahda
2DF	Mohammed Barqesh	(1990-10-27) 27 October 1990 (age 34)	19	0	Al Wahda
2DF	Al Hassan Saleh	(1991-06-25) 25 June 1991 (age 33)	11	0	Sharjah

3MF	Ali Salmeen	(1995-04-02) 2 April 1995 (age 29)	36	2	Al Wasl
3MF	Bandar Al-Ahbabi	(1990-07-09) 9 July 1990 (age 34)	31	2	Al Ain
3MF	Khalil Ibrahim	(1993-05-04) 4 May 1993 (age 31)	13	6	Al Wahda
3MF	Mohammed Jumaa	(1997-01-28) 28 January 1997 (age 27)	4	1	Shabab Al Ahli
3MF	Abdullah Ramadan	(1998-03-07) 7 March 1998 (age 26)	14	0	Al Jazira
3MF	Tahnoon Al-Zaabi	(1999-04-10) 10 April 1999 (age 25)	5	0	Al Wahda
3MF	Majed Hassan	(1992-08-01) 1 August 1992 (age 32)	51	1	Shabab Al Ahli
3MF	Ahmed Barman	(1994-02-05) 5 February 1994 (age 30)	29	1	Al Ain
3MF	Salem Rashid	(1993-12-21) 21 December 1993 (age 31)	4	0	Al Jazira
3MF	Abdulla Hamad	(2001-09-18) 18 September 2001 (age 23)	0	0	Al Wahda

4FW	Ali Mabkhout	(1990-10-05) 5 October 1990 (age 34)	92	76	Al Jazira
4FW	Khalfan Mubarak	(1995-05-09) 9 May 1995 (age 29)	29	1	Al Jazira
4FW	Fábio Lima	(1993-06-30) 30 June 1993 (age 31)	9	6	Al Wasl
4FW	Sebastián Tagliabúe	(1985-02-22) 22 February 1985 (age 39)	5	3	Al Nasr
4FW	Caio Canedo	(1990-08-09) 9 August 1990 (age 34)	6	3	Al Ain
4FW	Ali Saleh	(2000-01-22) 22 January 2000 (age 24)	11	2	Al Wasl
4FW	Zayed Al-Ameri	(1997-01-14) 14 January 1997 (age 27)	3	0	Al Jazira
4FW	Yahya Al Ghassani	(1998-04-18) 18 April 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Shabab Al Ahli

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Khalid Eisa	(1989-09-15) 15 September 1989 (age 35)	53	0	Al Ain	v. India, 29 March 2021

DF	Yousif Jaber	(1985-02-25) 25 February 1985 (age 39)	47	2	Shabab Al Ahli	v. Vietnam, 15 June 2021
DF	Mohamed Fawzi	(1990-02-22) 22 February 1990 (age 34)	46	0	Al Nasr	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
DF	Abdulaziz Haikal	(1990-09-10) 10 September 1990 (age 34)	41	1	Shabab Al Ahli	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
DF	Majed Suroor	(1997-10-14) 14 October 1997 (age 27)	4	0	Sharjah	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
DF	Fares Jumaa	(1988-12-30) 30 December 1988 (age 35)	44	2	Al Wahda	v. Uzbekistan, 12 October 2020
DF	Mohammed Marzooq	(1989-01-23) 23 January 1989 (age 35)	8	0	Shabab Al Ahli	v. Uzbekistan, 12 October 2020

MF	Abdullah Al-Naqbi	(1993-04-28) 28 April 1993 (age 31)	2	0	Shabab Al Ahli	v. Indonesia, 11 June 2021
MF	Yahia Nader	(1998-09-11) 11 September 1998 (age 26)	0	0	Al Ain	May 2021 training camp ^PRE
MF	Habib Al Fardan	(1990-11-11) 11 November 1990 (age 34)	57	6	Al Nasr	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
MF	Khaled Ba Wazir	(1995-05-08) 8 May 1995 (age 29)	6	0	Sharjah	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
MF	Mohammed Al Marashda	(2000-05-06) 6 May 2000 (age 24)	0	0	Kalba	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
MF	Abdullah Kazim	(1996-07-31) 31 July 1996 (age 28)	0	0	Sharjah	v. Bahrain, 16 November 2020
MF	Khamis Esmaeel	(1989-08-16) 16 August 1989 (age 35)	76	1	Al Wahda	v. Uzbekistan, 12 October 2020

FW	Hareb Abdullah	(2002-11-26) 26 November 2002 (age 22)	2	0	Shabab Al Ahli	v. Vietnam, 15 June 2021
^INJ Withdrew from the squad due to an injury ^PRE Preliminary squad ^RET Retired from international association football

List of UAE squads

FIFA World Cup

1990 World Cup squad

FIFA Confederations Cup

1997 Confederations Cup squad

AFC Asian Cup

Player records

As of 11 June 2021^[17]

Players in bold are still active with United Arab Emirates.

Most appearances
Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Adnan Al Talyani	161	52	1983–1997
2	Ismail Matar	133	36	2003–2019
3	Subait Khater	120	12	1999–2011
4	Abdulrahim Jumaa	116	13	1998–2009
5	Ismail Al Hammadi	115	13	2007–present
6	Zuhair Bakheet	112	27	1988–2002
6	Abdulsalam Jumaa	112	7	1997–2010
8	Muhsin Musabah	107	0	1988–1999
9	Ahmed Khalil	103	48	2008–present
10	Mohammed Omar	102	28	1996–2009

Top goalscorers
Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Ali Mabkhout (list)	76	92	0.83	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	133	0.27	2003–2019
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	Abdulrahim Jumaa	13	116	0.11	1998–2009
	Ismail Al Hammadi	13	115	0.11	2007–present
	Faisal Khalil	13	61	0.21	2001–2010

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1974	Part of the United Kingdom								Part of the United Kingdom
1978 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	To be determined								8	6	0	2	23	7
2026	To be determined								To be determined
Total	Group stage	24th	3	0	0	3	2	11	104	48	20	37	186	118

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

AFC Asian Cup									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GP	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	Group stage	6th	4	2	0	2	3	8	4	3	0	1	24	2
1988	Group stage	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	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	Group stage	12th	3	1	0	2	3	6	6	4	1	1	11	6
2011	Group stage	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	Hosts
2023	Qualified	TBD	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	6	0	2	23	7
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	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1974 to 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

Gulf Cup

Gulf Cup
Year	Place	Pld	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
2022	TBD
Total	Champions	111	41	28	39	117	135

FIFA Arab Cup

FIFA Arab Cup record
Year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	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	To be determined
Total	1/9	4	1	0	3	6	8

Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games
Year	Round	Pld	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^[18]	Champions	1st	3	2	1	0	2	1
2000 LG Cup^[19]	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	Champions	1st	48	14	14	20	43	67

Head-to-head record

As of 15 June 2021^[20]

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
Armenia	1	0	0	1	3	4	−1
Australia	6	1	2	3	1	5	−4
Azerbaijan	1	0	1	0	3	3	0
Bahrain	32	13	6	13	55	48	+7
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
Georgia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Germany^[a]	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	16	1	3	12	4	24	−20
Iraq	28	7	11	10	27	40	−13
Japan	20	5	9	6	18	22	−4
Jordan	18	11	4	3	30	15	+15
Kazakhstan	3	2	0	1	9	5	+4
Kenya	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Kuwait	41	16	8	17	49	74	−25
Kyrgyzstan	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Laos	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9
Lebanon	11	7	3	1	23	13	+10
Libya	4	1	2	1	8	5	+3
Lithuania	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Malaysia	12	10	0	2	32	7	+25
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	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
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	31	10	8	13	35	40	−5
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^[b]	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	21	2	6	13	16	41	−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	21	11	7	3	32	16	+16
Tajikistan	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
Thailand	12	7	3	2	19	12	+7
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	4	0	0	4	2	9	−7
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	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Vietnam	7	5	0	2	16	6	+10
Yemen^[c]	13	10	0	3	29	13	+16
Total	580	232	148	200	822	719	+103

^ Includes matches against West Germany.
^ Includes matches against Yugoslavia.
^ Includes matches against North Yemen.

Competitions

Reference

^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
^ "UAE's 1990 World Cup journey now a documentary". Gulf News. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
^ "Mahdi Ali resigns as UAE's World Cup ends with a defeat". The National. 28 March 2018.
^ Yahoo! Sports: Asian Football Confederation apologize for calling UAE national team ‘Sand Monkeys’
^ Bailey, Ryan (15 October 2012). "Asian Football Confederation apologize for calling UAE national team 'Sand Monkeys'". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
^ https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/25/asian-cup-report-australia-uae-south-korea-qatar-son-heung-min-spurs
^ https://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/football/AFC-Asian-Cup:-UAE-Qatar-match-tickets-sell-like-hot-cakes
^ https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/2184193/asian-cup-uae-fans-pelt-qatar-players-shoes-hosts-are-thrashed-4-0
^ "UAE fans throw shoes and bottles at "Qatari" players". 27 January 2019.
^ Dorsey, James M. (29 July 2013). "Gulf rivalry between Iran, UAE transferred to the football pitch". Hurriyet Daily. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
^ "UAE fires coach Van Marwijk after Qatar defeat". euronews. 5 December 2019.
^ "Why foreign footballers are getting uae passports". gulfnews. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
^ "old united arab emirates football shirts". oldfootballshirts. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^ "UAE National Team staff". uaefa.com.
^ "27 لاعباً في القائمة النهائية للأبيض استعداداً لمواجهتي لبنان وسوريا". UAE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.
^ Roberto Mamrud; Karel Stokkermans. "Players with 100+ Caps and 30+ International Goals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/omantour00.html
^ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/uae-friend00.html
^ "World Football Elo Ratings: United Arab Emirates". Eloratings.net. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.

Note

External link

UAE Football Association official website (in Arabic)

[21] Includes matches against West Germany.

[22] Includes matches against Yugoslavia.

[23] Includes matches against North Yemen.

[FIFA_World_Rankings-1] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.

[World_Football_Elo_Ratings-2] Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.

[Doc90-3] "UAE's 1990 World Cup journey now a documentary". Gulf News. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.

[4] "Mahdi Ali resigns as UAE's World Cup ends with a defeat". The National. 28 March 2018.

[5] Yahoo! Sports: Asian Football Confederation apologize for calling UAE national team ‘Sand Monkeys’

[6] Bailey, Ryan (15 October 2012). "Asian Football Confederation apologize for calling UAE national team 'Sand Monkeys'". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 21 June 2020.

[7] ttps://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/25/asian-cup-report-australia-uae-south-korea-qatar-son-heung-min-spurs

[8] ttps://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/football/AFC-Asian-Cup:-UAE-Qatar-match-tickets-sell-like-hot-cakes

[9] ttps://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/2184193/asian-cup-uae-fans-pelt-qatar-players-shoes-hosts-are-thrashed-4-0

[10] "UAE fans throw shoes and bottles at "Qatari" players". 27 January 2019.

[11] Dorsey, James M. (29 July 2013). "Gulf rivalry between Iran, UAE transferred to the football pitch". Hurriyet Daily. Retrieved 10 September 2019.

[12] "UAE fires coach Van Marwijk after Qatar defeat". euronews. 5 December 2019.

[13] "Why foreign footballers are getting uae passports". gulfnews. Retrieved 27 January 2020.

[14] "old united arab emirates football shirts". oldfootballshirts. Retrieved 27 December 2020.

[15] "UAE National Team staff". uaefa.com.

[16] "27 لاعباً في القائمة النهائية للأبيض استعداداً لمواجهتي لبنان وسوريا". UAE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.

[17] Roberto Mamrud; Karel Stokkermans. "Players with 100+ Caps and 30+ International Goals". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[18] ttp://www.rsssf.com/tableso/omantour00.html

[19] ttp://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/uae-friend00.html

[20] "World Football Elo Ratings: United Arab Emirates". Eloratings.net. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.

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v t e Football in the United Arab Emirates
UAEFA PLC
National teams	Men's national team U-23 U-20 U-17 Women's national team Men's Futsal Beach Soccer	United Arab Emirates portal
League system	Pro League First Division League Second Division League Third Division League
Domestic cups	President's Cup League Cup Federation Cup (defunct) Super Cup Joint League (defunct)
International Competitions	AFC Champions League Arabian Gulf Cup Arab Club Champions Cup GCC Champions League Friendship Tournament (defunct)
Clubs Records

v t e United Arab Emirates national football team
General	United Arab Emirates Football Association History Managers
Statistics	Results and fixtures 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present International tournaments Head to head
Team	Players International players
Venues	Zayed Sports City Mohammed bin Zayed Hazza bin Zayed Al Maktoum
Tournaments	World Cup Asian Cup Asian Games WAFF Championship Friendship Tournament
World Finals	1990
Asian Finals	1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2004 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027
Notable Matches	1996 AFC Asian Cup final Disaster of Hanoi (2007) Blockade Derby (2019) 2022 World Cup fourth round qualifier
Scorers	Ali Mabkhout
Rivalries	Iran Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia
Other teams	U23 U20 U17 Women's Futsal Beach soccer

v t e National men's football teams of Asia (AFC)
AFC Asian Cup
West Asia (WAFF)	Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen
Central Asia (CAFA)	Afghanistan Iran Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
South Asia (SAFF)	Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
East Asia (EAFF)	China Chinese Taipei¹ Guam Hong Kong Japan Macau Mongolia North Korea Northern Mariana Islands² South Korea
Southeast Asia (AFF)	Australia Brunei Cambodia East Timor Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam
Defunct	Malaya Manchukuo North Vietnam South Vietnam South Yemen
Former	Israel (moved to UEFA in 1994) Kazakhstan (moved to UEFA in 2002) New Zealand (formed the OFC in 1966)
¹ Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, competes as "Chinese Taipei" ² Not a member of FIFA

v t e 1990 FIFA World Cup finalists
Champions	West Germany
Runners-up	Argentina
Third place	Italy
Fourth place	England
Quarter-finals	Cameroon Czechoslovakia Republic of Ireland Yugoslavia
Round of 16	Belgium Brazil Colombia Costa Rica Netherlands Romania Spain Uruguay
Group stage	Austria Egypt Scotland South Korea Soviet Union Sweden United Arab Emirates United States