United Arab Emirates national football team

The first match of the team was played on 17 March 1972 against Qatar at Riyadh's 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 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 eleven goals. The journey was put into a 2016 documentary titled 'Lights of Rome'.[2] 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 Asian winners 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 the Emirates to the 2007 Gulf Cup title.

After hiring foreign coaches, in 2012, United Arab Emirates appointed the Olympic team coach Mahdi Ali as the new manager of the senior team. Ali began creating a squad inviting players that he had worked with at 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.[3] 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.[4][5]

In 2015, it was announced that the Emirates will host the 2019 Asian Cup, this marks the second time they hosts 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.[6] The semi-finals was between the host and Qatar.[7] Some audiences booed Qatari anthem and threw footwear in the pitch after Qatar scored its second goal. UAE lost 0–4 marking its first defeat to Qatar since 2001,[8] with tensions and violence occurred and some cheering "anti-Qatari" chants.[9] 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.[10]

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 exist in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup.[11] 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.[12]

United Arab Emirates's home ground varies. Most games have been played 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. As of 2020, UAE has played in 11 home stadiums.

Home stadiums list
Image	Stadium	Capacity	Location	Last match
	Zayed Sports City Stadium	43,206	Abu Dhabi City, Abu Dhabi	v   Kyrgyzstan (21 January 2019; 2019 AFC Asian Cup)
	Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium	42,056	Abu Dhabi City, Abu Dhabi	v   Syria (26 March 2019; Friendly)
	Al Nahyan Stadium	12,201	Abu Dhabi City, 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 City, Dubai	v   Iraq (12 January 2021; Friendly)
	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium	12,000	Dubai City, Dubai	v   Bolivia (16 November 2018; Friendly)
	Al Maktoum Stadium	15,058	Dubai City, Dubai	v   Bahrain (16 November 2020; Friendly)
	Rashid Stadium	12,000	Dubai City, Dubai	v   Uzbekistan (12 October 2020; Friendly)
	Sharjah Stadium	18,000	Sharjah City, Sharjah	v   Uzbekistan (28 January 2009; 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification)

The UAE's home colors can be white with some red trim while their away colors can be red with some white trim. In 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the away colors were black for the first time and there were some green trim.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United Arab Emirates national football team kits.

Manufacturer Period Umbro 1979–1985[13] 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–

• UAE Football Association official website (in Arabic)