UAE suffer blow to Fifa World Cup hopes with defeat to Iran
The UAE suffered a big blow to their 2026 Fifa World Cup hopes as The Whites lost 2-0 to Iran in their crucial qualifying match on Thursday.
Iran, on the other hand, moved within a point of sealing a fourth consecutive World Cup appearance with their win in Tehran as Sardar Azmoun and Mohammad Mohebbi scored for the home team.
Iran nearly capitalised on a defensive error from UAE in the fifth minute when Mehdi Ghayedi clipped a pass towards Azmoun, who chested the ball perfectly for Mohebbi but Khalid Eisa stood tall to deny the FC Rostov forward from point-blank range.
A floodlight failure brought the match to a temporary halt in the 10th minute with the match only resuming in the 40th minute with Caio Lucas flashing a shot just wide in the 45th minute as 29 minutes were added by the referee at the end of the first half.
Iran threatened again after Saman Ghoddos fed Roozbeh Cheshmi on the edge of the box but the 31-year-old's effort in the fourth minute of added time was comfortably collected by Eisa.
A quick break in the 20th minute of added time saw Alireza Beiranvand pulling off a big stop to prevent Mackenzie Hunt from putting UAE ahead after the midfielder was put through by Yahya Al Ghassani.
The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute of added time, Ghoddos with a delicate chip pass for Azmoun to nod home from close range.
Despite a period of sustained UAE pressure, Iran sealed the win after Mohebbi showed a good turn of pace to speed past Kouame Kouadio before firing a shot past Eisa.
The UAE, who will face North Korea on Tuesday, remain third in the group with 10 points from seven matches.
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 are competing 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. (With inputs from AFC)
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