The UAE are set for their most important international window since the last one. Last month, the national team were 90 minutes away from qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
They ended up losing a stormy game against Qatar, which sent their Gulf rivals to a second successive finals.
It did not knock out the UAE entirely, though. They can still make it to the tournament in North America next summer, but the route is far more complicated now.
What has happened so far
Next year’s World Cup, which will be staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States in June and July, will be the first to involve 48 teams.
Twenty-eight have already booked their tickets. A further 14 – three from North and Central America, and 11 from Europe – will clinch their places during this window.
Asian qualifying
The route to the World Cup has been a winding one for Asian teams. The process started over two years ago, and still has a little way to run.
Six Asian teams made it directly to the World Cup from the third round of qualifying: Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia.
Two more – Qatar and Saudi Arabia – made it through three-team play-offs last month. Now Asia’s last two remaining sides, UAE and Iraq, will be whittled down to one.
Ticket information for UAE v Iraq
The national team face home and away matches against Iraq, with the winner advancing to an inter-confederation play-off.
The first leg will be played at the 36,000-capacity Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium, which is the home of Al Jazira, in Abu Dhabi.
It kicks off at 8pm on Thursday, November 13. Tickets on Platinumlist are sold out, while resale sites have a few to offer.
The return leg is at Basra International Stadium on Tuesday, November 18.
How to watch UAE v Iraq on TV
The matches will be broadcast live on BeIN Sports.
What happens next
The winner between the UAE and Iraq will proceed to the World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament, the draw for which takes place on Thursday, November 20.
That is a six-team competition, to be played in March in Mexico, to decide the final two qualifiers for the World Cup.
The six team will be split into two groups of three. The winners of each group will advance to the World Cup.
The teams will be seeded into brackets based on the FIFA rankings. Each group will feature two unseeded teams facing each other in a semi-final, with the winner advancing to the play-off final against a seeded team.
Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon and Congo are fighting for one place in the play-off. Two out of Curacao, Costa Rica and Panama will fill the other three places.
UAE v Iraq head-to-head
Iraq are 57th in the Fifa rankings, which is 10 places better than the UAE. The national team do have some good memories of playing major matches against them, though.
Last week, Omar Abdulrahman slipped quietly off into retirement. The former national team playmaker had an injury ravaged end to his playing career.
But the matches against Iraq are an immediate reminder of arguably his finest moment wearing the white of the national team.
He scored a stunning solo goal to put the UAE on the way to winning the 2013 Arabian Gulf Cup final in Bahrain, against Iraq.
UAE team news
Cosmin Olaroiu, the UAE coach, will be deprived of the services of the playmaker in whom so many UAE hopes are usually invested.
Fabio De Lima is set be out for around a month after picking up an injury on club duty with Al Wasl. The No 10 had ignited belief that UAE could make it to the World Cup when he scored four against Qatar in Abu Dhabi during the third round of Asian qualifying.
And yet his influence was minimal in the play-off in Doha last month. He was substituted when the UAE were 1-0 down at half-time against Oman, then did not feature until late on against Qatar in the decisive second match.
Yahya Al Ghassani and Sultan Adil have been named in the squad, but both must be doubts. Al Ghassani was injured against Oman, while Adil limped out of Shabab Al Ahli’s AFC Champions League game against Al Duhail last week.
