Today's Edition
TAARIQ HALIM (ABU DHABI)
The UAE national football team have three matches to get their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign back on track, starting with a crucial tie against North Korea on Tuesday at the Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The match is part of the third round of a tight Group A in the Asian qualifiers, where the UAE are in third place on 10 points, battling to make the top 2 qualifying spots, which are currently occupied by Iran on 19 points and Uzbekistan on 16 points.
UAE will be targeting all three points (kickoff at 10.15pm), while hoping group leaders Iran do them a favour by beating Uzbekistan in Tehran earlier on Tuesday at 8pm.
The UAE squad arrived in Riyadh on Monday morning, following their last training session at Jebel Ali Stadium in Dubai on Sunday, looking to bounce back after a 2-0 loss to Iran last Thursday
Last-placed North Korea will also be smarting after a crushing 5-1 defeat to Qatar last week.
UAE head coach Paulo Bento would have worked on the team’s defensive frailties, steeling his troops’ nerves for this crucial Group A encounter.
The last time the two sides met was in the qualifiers at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in October, where the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Victory for the UAE on Tuesday and defeat for Uzbekistan would set up a straight shootout for that all-important second spot on June 5 in the penultimate round of games.
FIFA has named a Saudi officiating crew for the match, led by referee Mohammed Al-Huwaish, with Khalaf Al-Shammari as assistant referee, Yasser Al-Sultan as second assistant, and Faisal Al-Bluwi as the fourth official.
The VAR team includes Abdullah Al-Shihri as the main VAR referee and Ibrahim Al-Dakhil as assistant VAR referee.
Tuesday’s remaining Group A tie sees fifth-placed Kyrgyzstan host fourth-placed Qatar at 5.45pm.
