The two sides at the top of Group A in the third round of AFC qualification for the 2026 World Cup will lock horns on Tuesday, with the United Arab Emirates taking on Iran. The Whites are hoping to continue their perfect start to FIFA World Cup qualifying as they prepare to face Iran in Al Ain tonight, with the Whites seeking their first-ever competitive victory against the regional heavyweights.
UAE came from behind to record a 3-1 victory over Qatar on Thursday, while Iran opened their Group A campaign with a 1-0 home success over Kyrgyzstan.
UAE have only competed in the finals of one World Cup, which came back in 1990, when they lost all three of their matches to exit the competition in the group stage. The Lions of Persia are one of Asia’s football powerhouses. They’ve won the Asian Cup twice and qualified for the last three FIFA World Cup finals, while the UAE’s sole World Cup appearance was 24 years ago, in Italy.
The UAE's Quest for a Historic Victory
Paulo Bento's side have been impressive during this qualification campaign, winning six and drawing one of their seven games, scoring 19 times in the process and conceding just three goals. The UAE enter tonight’s clash at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium brimming with confidence, having come from behind to defeat Qatar in their third-round FIFA World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
UAE actually fell behind to Qatar in their section opener on Thursday, but they scored three times in the second period, including twice in the final 10 minutes, to secure all three points courtesy of a 3-1 success. That victory in Al Rayyan, secured through goals from Harib Abdalla Suhail, Khaled Ebraheem, and Ali Saleh, marked the UAE's first win over Qatar since 2015 and their first away triumph against the Maroons in 11 years.
The national team comfortably finished at the top of Group H in the second qualification round, picking up 16 points from their six matches against Bahrain, Yemen and Nepal.
A Challenging Encounter Awaits the UAE
However, an even tougher test arguably awaits this evening. The two nations have faced off 19 times, with the UAE prevailing only once – in a friendly back in 1997. UAE have only ever beaten Iran on one occasion, which came back in September 1997, and they have lost each of their last six games against Tuesday's opponents.
The last meeting between these two sides came in January 2004, with Iran running out 2-1 winners in the Asian Cup, and they have only conceded once in their last six games against Qatar, which is an indication of their recent dominance.
Despite the odds stacked against them, UAE head coach Bento is targeting another strong performance as his team looks to continue their perfect start towards the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. “Iran is a strong team,” Bento told the media in his pre-match press conference. “The players have wide range of knowledge. This will help them prepare for the game in an easier way. The players have a good mentality. It's difficult to find weak points on the Iranian side. It's a team that control and dominate all the movements. So, we should be strong in the duels. We should have ambition to try to attack in the right moments. At the same time, we should be humble as well, to respect Iran's potential and sometimes suffering, sometimes play with the block a little bit lower because they are going to provoke that. We obviously want to win and write history. But to achieve this we need to put up a strong performance. We have to show that we are a team that can win. We have talked with the players about the tactics and the way to bring more improvements from the game against Qatar.”
Iran's Pursuit of a Fourth Consecutive World Cup
Iran were 1-0 winners over Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, with Mehdi Taremi netting the only goal of the contest in the 34th minute. Iran also enters the match on the back of a win in their Group A opener, though they had to fight hard for three points against a resilient Kyrgyz Republic at Foolad Shahr Stadium.
Amir Ghalenoei's side finished top of Group E in the second round of qualification, picking up 14 points from their six matches, with their record during qualification for the 2026 World Cup standing at five wins and two draws from seven games. Despite their lacklustre performance in the 1-0 victory, Iran manager Amir Ghalenoei anticipates a much-improved display from his side tonight, in what he expects to be a high-quality encounter. “Our team is much better prepared than the first game. We have analysed our own the game against Kyrgyzstan and the game between UAE and Qatar,” said Ghalenoei. “UAE can be a very dangerous team, especially in the quick attacks and counter-attacks that we had seen in their last two to three games. I'm sure this match is going to be of very high quality. The two teams have very good knowledge of each other and this is the second time that we are going to face each other this year after the Asian Cup. The circumstances in this match, however, are going to be very different. We have prepared ourselves very well for this second match.”
Key Players to Watch
UAE are once again set to have Caio Canedo at the tip of their attack, with the forward bidding to add to the nine goals that he has managed for his country. Tahnoon Al-Zaabi played as a number 10 against Qatar last time out, and that is again expected to be the case in this match, with the 25-year-old in line to earn his 32nd cap for his country. There should also be another start in midfield for Yahia Nader.
Iran have not reported any injury concerns from their clash with Kyrgyzstan last time out, so it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field. Taremi netted his 51st international goal last time out, and the 32-year-old will once again operate in the final third of the field alongside Sardar Azmoun, who has 53 goals for his country. Saman Ghoddos will also be a notable inclusion in midfield, with the 31-year-old, who is currently a free agent after leaving Brentford, in line to win his 54th cap.
The Verdict
Iran are on a six-game winning run against the UAE, and we are backing that to be stretched to seven in this encounter. It should be a tight match, but Iran have so much quality in the forward areas, and we are expecting the visitors to make it six points from two matches in this particular section.
The Road to the 2026 World Cup
The 12 teams were drawn into two group of each six each. Asian powerhouse Japan were put in Group B while Iran, who have made five appearance at the showpiece event were drawn in the Group A along with the UAE. 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.
The UAE haven't qualified for the World Cup since their maiden appearance at the global showpiece in 1990.
