Hoping to end their three-decade long wait for a World Cup appearance, the UAE will begin their crucial Asian qualifying campaign for the 2026 edition of the global showpiece against Qatar on Thursday.
Asia has eight direct slots for the next Fifa World Cup which will be a 48-team tournament.
Eighteen teams have been divided into three groups of six each in the third round of the Asian qualifiers.
The UAE have been drawn in Group A with Qatar, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea.
South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait will compete in Group B while Group C features Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia.
The top two teams from each group will qualify directly for the World Cup. The third and fourth-placed teams in each group will then compete in the six-team fourth round of qualifiers.
The six teams in the fourth round will be divided into two groups of three teams. The winners of each group will earn the last two direct slots for the World Cup, while the two runners-up teams will be locked in a playoff battle.
The winner of the Asian playoff will then advance to an inter-confederation playoff tournament featuring five other teams for the final two slots in the World Cup.
Having narrowly missed out on a berth for the 2022 World Cup by losing to Australia in a complicated playoff round, the UAE will be aiming for a top-two finish for direct qualification this time around in the third round of Asian qualifiers.
For that, the UAE need to get off to a perfect start against two-time Asian champions Qatar in Doha on Thursday.
The 2022 heartbreak has fueled Paulo Bento’s side, who cruised into the third round of the Asian Qualifiers with two matches to spare.
The Emiratis, however, have not beaten Qatar since their 4-1 triumph in the 2015 Asian Cup but Bento will believe his side have the quality to end their long wait.
The UAE will play their second match of the third round at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain, against Iran on September 10.
Qatar, on the other hand, will be aiming to continue their purple patch when they face UAE at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Thursday.
Qatar followed up their 2023 Asian Cup triumph by qualifying for the third round of qualifiers with two matches to spare and head into their Group A opener against UAE on the back of an 11-match unbeaten run.
The home team will see the return of key players Akram Afif and Almoez Ali to action, after head coach Marquez Lopez chose to rest several stars during the final two second-round fixtures against Afghanistan and India.
Qatar, looking to qualify for the global showpiece on merit after having made their debut as hosts of the 2022 edition, will not be short of confidence with Ali – who topped the scoring charts with seven goals alongside Korea Republic’s Son Heung-min in the second round and Afif – who won the AFC Asian Cup Golden Boot – key figures to their campaign.