The UAE face a tough road to reach the 2026 Fifa World Cup after being paired in a group with regional heavyweights Iran and Qatar in Asian qualifying.
The national team have only once before appeared at a global finals, back in 1990, and must navigate a Group A also containing Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea if they are to reach the 2026 edition to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Iran have appeared at six World Cups including the 2022 edition held in Qatar where they failed to make it out of the group stage.
Qatar are back-to-back winners of the Asian Cup following their 3-1 win over Jordan at last February's rearranged tournament held on home soil.
The UAE, coached by the experienced Portuguese Paulo Bento, safely navigated the second round of Asian qualifying, winning five of their six games to top Group H on 16 points ahead of Bahrain.
Following last month's 1-1 draw against Bahrain in Dubai, Bento called on his squad to improve considerably for the step up in competition in the next round of qualification.
Asked by The National post-match for his evaluation of the team's progress made since his appointment last July, Bento said: “They need to understand the game in a different way. We shouldn’t not have in consideration our weakness and don’t think we are better than we really are.
"This is a bad step. We should realise how good we are and how weak we are, at the same time, and be humble.”
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UAE's Fahad Badr battles with Bahrain's Hamad Al Shamsan during the 2026 World Cup qualifying match at Zabeel Stadium, Dubai. All photos Chris Whiteoak / The National -
UAE's Tahnoon Al Zaabi and Bahrain's Ali Madan compete for the ball during the 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Dubai. -
UAE manager Paulo Bento watches the match from the touchline. -
UAE's Yahya Al Ghassani and Bahrain's Mohamed Marhoon challenge for the ball during the match at Zabeel Stadium. -
UAE's Ali Saleh with the ball after drawing a foul against Bahrain. -
UAE's Mubarak Zamah attempts to pass the ball past Bahrain players during the match in Dubai. -
Bahrain's Mahdi Abduljabbar scores the opening goal against the UAE. -
Sultan Adil celebrates after scoring the equaliser for the UAE against Bahrain. -
The UAE team line up before the 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain. -
The Bahrain team line up before the 2026 World Cup qualifying match against the UAE.
The draw for the third round of Asian qualifying was made at the Asian Football Confederation's headquarters in Malaysia on Thursday.
The 18 teams were divided into three groups, with eight confirmed berths and a possible additional spot via a play-off available for Asia.
Led by Tottenham striker Son Heung-min, South Korea will be favourites to reach an 11th consecutive World Cup after being handed a favourable group alongside Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait in Group B.
Saudi Arabia were given arguably the hardest draw in Group C.
The kingdom, the sole bidder for the 2030 World Cup, will take on fellow Asian heavyweights Japan and Australia. Bahrain, China and Indonesia comprise the remainder of the group.
Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia and Palestine are making their debuts at this stage of the Asian qualifiers.
The top two finishers from the three groups will confirm their places at the 2026 World Cup 2026 while the third- and fourth-placed teams from each group – six in total – will progress to the Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26 Playoff, to be contested in two groups of three teams in a single round-robin format, with both group winners qualifying for the global showpiece.
The two second-placed finishers from the play-off will face off in a home-and-away tie to earn the right to reach the Intercontinental play-off and vie for the final available berth.
The third round of Asian qualifiers begins on September 5 with the final round of matches scheduled for June 10, 2025.
