United Arab Emirates at the FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The UAE have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on one occasion in 1990 where they lost all three games.[1][2][3]

The impact of qualifying for the World Cup

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Numerous nations view their involvement in the World Cup as a strategic move to increase their likelihood of hosting the event in the future. Countries that compete in the tournament have a 17% greater chance of securing the bid for hosting the World Cup. Hosting this prestigious event yields substantial economic advantages and promotes tourism. With its sights set on the National Sports Strategy 2031 objective of enhancing its involvement in multiple international competitions, the United Arab Emirates is eager to capitalize on this occasion.[4][5]

UAE national team in the World Cup qualifiers

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1986 World Cup qualifiers

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In 1986, the UAE national football team embarked on its first-ever journey in the World Cup qualifiers. The team competed against several other nations in their qualifying group, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Despite their best efforts, the UAE team could not secure enough wins to progress to the next stage of the qualifiers. Nevertheless, this experience marked an important milestone in the country's football history, paving the way for future generations of players to represent the UAE on the international stage.

1990 World Cup qualifiers

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The UAE national team made history in the 1990 World Cup by earning a place in the finals for the first time. The UAE national team started in the preliminary qualifiers and advanced to the final qualifiers topping their group with 6 points in February 1989.[6]

In the last leg of the World Cup qualifiers, the UAE national team competed in a group that included: North Korea, South Korea, China, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Despite winning just one match against the Chinese national team with a one-goal lead, the UAE national team again managed to secure 6 points, securing a commendable second position. The top spot was taken by the South Korean national team, with 8 points.

The difficulties faced by the UAE national team

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The qualification earned by the UAE national team is a historical accomplishment, not only for being their first, but also for the adversities they had to overcome during the qualifying period. A player for the UAE national team, was suspended before the last match in the qualifiers against South Korea. Along with this setback, the team persevered through adversity as several injured players required medical injections to withstand their injuries and play the match.

Despite the remarkable achievement of the UAE national team, the UAE Football Association has decided to part ways with coach Mario Zagallo. Mr. Zagallo led the team during the qualifiers, yet he was relieved of his duties only a few days after the team's successful qualification. Coach Carlos Alberto was selected to lead the UAE national football team in the 1990 World Cup finals.[7]

Overall record

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FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GP W D L GF GA
  1930 Not eligible to enter Not eligible to enter
  1934
  1938
  1950
  1954
  1958
  1962
  1966
  1970
  1974
  1978 Did not enter Did not enter
  1982
  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 To be determined (TBD) To be determined
      2030
  2034
Total Group stage 1/22 3 0 0 3 2 11 115 51 23 42 194 127
* Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Record by Opponent

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FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent Total Wins Draws Losses GF GA GD
  Colombia 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2
  Germany 1 0 0 1 1 5 −4
  Yugoslavia 1 0 0 1 1 4 −3

1990 FIFA World Cup

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   West Germany 3 2 1 0 10 3 +7 5 Advance to knockout stage
2   Yugoslavia 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1 4
3   Colombia 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1 3
4   United Arab Emirates 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

UAE vs Colombia

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United Arab Emirates  0-2  Colombia
Report Redín   50'
Valderrama   85'
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UAE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Colombia
 
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
GK 17 Muhsin Musabah
DF 20 Yousuf Hussain   55'
DF 6 Abdulrahman Mohamed
DF 2 Khalil Ghanim
DF 15 Ibrahim Meer   10'
MF 19 Eissa Meer   5'   74'
MF 12 Hussain Ghuloum
MF 14 Nasir Khamees
MF 3 Ali Thani
FW 7 Fahad Khamees (c)   57'
FW 10 Adnan Al Talyani
Substitutions:
MF 5 Abdullah Sultan   74'
FW 11 Zuhair Bakhit   57'
Manager:
  Carlos Alberto Parreira
 
COLOMBIA:
GK 1 René Higuita
DF 4 Luis Fernando Herrera
DF 15 Luis Carlos Perea
DF 2 Andrés Escobar
DF 3 Gildardo Gómez
MF 8 Gabriel Gómez
MF 14 Leonel Álvarez
MF 11 Bernardo Redín
MF 10 Carlos Valderrama (c)
FW 19 Freddy Rincón
FW 16 Arnoldo Iguarán   75'
Substitutions:
MF 7 Carlos Estrada   75'
Manager:
  Francisco Maturana


Assistant referees:
Alan Snoddy (Northern Ireland)
Shizuo Takada (Japan)

West Germany vs UAE

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Ismaïl Mubarak got the only goal for the UAE in the first minute of the second half when he latched onto a ball in the box after a mistake by a German defender and hit a low left footed shot into the net.

West Germany  5–1  United Arab Emirates
Völler   35', 75'
Klinsmann   37'
Matthäus   47'
Bein   58'
Report Ismaïl Mubarak   46'
Attendance: 71,169
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
West Germany
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UAE
 
WEST GERMANY:
GK 1 Bodo Illgner
SW 5 Klaus Augenthaler
DF 14 Thomas Berthold   46'
DF 6 Guido Buchwald
MF 2 Stefan Reuter
MF 8 Thomas Häßler
MF 10 Lothar Matthäus (c)
MF 15 Uwe Bein
MF 3 Andreas Brehme   86'
FW 9 Rudi Völler
FW 18 Jürgen Klinsmann   71'
Substitutions:
MF 7 Pierre Littbarski   46'
FW 13 Karl-Heinz Riedle   71'
Manager:
  Franz Beckenbauer
 
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
GK 17 Muhsin Musabah
DF 20 Yousuf Hussain   26'
DF 6 Abdulrahman Mohamed (c)
DF 2 Khalil Ghanim
DF 15 Ibrahim Meer   87'
MF 19 Eissa Meer
MF 12 Hussain Ghuloum   30'
MF 14 Nasir Khamees
MF 8 Khalid Ismaïl
FW 3 Ali Thani
FW 10 Adnan Al Talyani
Substitutions:
DF 21 Abdulrahman Al-Haddad   87'
Manager:
  Carlos Alberto Parreira


Assistant referees:
Shizuo Takada (Japan)
Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)

Yugoslavia vs UAE

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Thani Jumaa got the only goal for the UAE in the 22nd minute when he headed home from six yards after a cross from the left.

Yugoslavia  4–1  United Arab Emirates
Sušić   4'
Pančev   8', 46'
Prosinečki   90'
Report Thani Jumaa   22'
Attendance: 27,833
Referee: Shizuo Takada (Japan)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Yugoslavia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UAE
 
YUGOSLAVIA:
GK 1 Tomislav Ivković
SW 5 Faruk Hadžibegić
DF 2 Vujadin Stanojković
DF 3 Predrag Spasić
MF 16 Refik Šabanadžović   71'   78'
MF 10 Dragan Stojković
MF 6 Davor Jozić
MF 8 Safet Sušić
MF 7 Dragoljub Brnović   20'
FW 9 Darko Pančev   76'
FW 11 Zlatko Vujović (c)   64'
Substitutions:
DF 4 Zoran Vulić   64'
MF 15 Robert Prosinečki   78'
Manager:
  Ivica Osim
 
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
GK 17 Muhsin Musabah
DF 19 Eissa Meer
DF 6 Abdulrahman Mohamed (c)
DF 2 Khalil Ghanim   36'   76'
DF 15 Ibrahim Meer
MF 21 Abdulrahman Al-Haddad
MF 12 Hussain Ghuloum
MF 14 Nasir Khamees   35'
MF 8 Khalid Ismaïl
FW 3 Ali Thani   46'
FW 10 Adnan Al Talyani
Substitutions:
MF 5 Abdullah Sultan   35'
FW 7 Fahad Khamees   46'
Manager:
  Carlos Alberto Parreira


Assistant referees:
Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark)
Michel Vautrot (France)

Record players

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Nine players have been fielded on all three occasions, making them record World Cup players for their country. Among them are twin brothers Eissa and Ibrahim Meer.

Rank Player Matches
1 Adnan Al Talyani 3
Mubarak Ghanim 3
Hussain Ghuloum 3
Nasir Khamees 3
Eissa Meer 3
Ibrahim Meer 3
Abdulrahman Mohamed 3
Muhsin Musabah 3
Ali Thani Jumaa 3

Top goalscorers

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Two UAE players scored one goal each at the 1990 World Cup.

Rank Player Goals
1 Khalid Ismaïl 1
Ali Thani Jumaa 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Record". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  2. ^ "1990 FIFA World Cup Schedule". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  3. ^ "UAE: a journey to the unknown at Italia 90". 30 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. ^ Avsar, Veysel; Unal, Umut. "Trading Effects of the FIFA World Cup". WorldCat.org.
  5. ^ Saleh, Amjad; Aamir, Muhammad. "National Sports Strategy 2031 establishes a globally impactful and competitive sector: Official".
  6. ^ "«مونديال 90» يبقى صامداً في ذاكرة الكرة الإماراتية". www.albayan.ae (in Arabic). 2011-11-18. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  7. ^ "ذكريات تأهل الإمارات إلى مونديال 1990 لا تزال خالدة في عقول «الجيل الذهبي»". aawsat.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-03-21.