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 United Arab Emirates is yet to enter their second world cup since then.
FIFA World Cup record
| FIFA World Cup record | FIFA World Cup qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 | Not eligible to enter | Not eligible to enter' | |||||||||||||
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 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
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| Did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
 | Group stage | 24th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 7 | |
 | Did not qualify | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 4 | ||||||||
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12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 13 | |||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}  | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 20 | |||||||||
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | |||||||||
 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 24 | |||||||||
 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 16 | |||||||||
 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 37 | 17 | |||||||||
 | To be determined | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 97 | 43 | 20 | 35 | 165 | 112 | |
- * Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
| United Arab Emirates's World Cup record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Match |   (9 June 1990; Bologna, Italy) | ||||
| Biggest Win | — | ||||
| Biggest Defeat | (15 June 1990; Milan, Italy) | ||||
| Best Result | Group Stage in 1990 | ||||
| Worst Result | Group stage in 1990 | ||||
1990 FIFA World Cup
| | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 |
UAE vs Colombia
| United Arab Emirates | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Redín  Valderrama |
          UAE
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   Colombia
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West Germany vs UAE
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Völler Klinsmann Matthäus Bein |
Report | Ismaïl Mubarak |
    West Germany
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     UAE
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Yugoslavia vs UAE
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sušić Pančev Prosinečki |
Report | Thani Jumaa |
  Yugoslavia
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UAE
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Record players
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.
| No. | Name | 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
Two UAE players scored one goal each at the 1990 World Cup.
| No. | Name | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khalid Ismaïl | 1 |
| Ali Thani Jumaa | 1 | |
References
- "FIFA World Cup Record". FIFA.com. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- "1990 FIFA World Cup Schedule". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- "UAE: a journey to the unknown at Italia 90". 30 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2018.