By Desmond Nleya
The ‘Whites’ despite trailing 1-0 at half-time, scored three late goals in the second half to stun the two-time Asian champions in World Cup Qualifying match played in Qatar on Thursday.
UAE will face Iran in AI Ain on Tuesday while Qatar will lock horns with DPR Korea.
The top two teams in the group will earn direct berths at the 2026 Fifa World Cup, while the third and fourth-placed teams will advance to a fourth round of Asian qualifiers.
The UAE haven’t qualified for the World Cup since their maiden appearance at the global showpiece in 1990.
On Thursday, the match got off to a scrappy start with both sides taking time to settle down at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.
The first piece of attacking play came from Qatar in the 15th minute that needed a Khalifa Al Hammadi late interception to deny Akram Afif a tap-in.
Afif then served teammate Jassem Gaber a sumptuous cross from the left, only for the latter to power his header over the bar from close range.
Qatar cranked up the pressure and eventually took the lead in the 38th minute when Afif found 18-year-old Ibrahim Al Hassan, who then beat Yahia Nader before slamming an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half saw both sides cancelling each other out with neither goalkeeper, Qatar’s Meshaal Barsham nor Khalid Eisa of UAE called into action.
Just after the hour mark, UAE went close when Abdulla Hamad hit a powerful shot from the edge of the box that hit the side netting as the visitors served up a warning.
Growing in confidence, it was no surprise that UAE found the equaliser in the 68th minute after Harib Abdalla was given space in the box to cut inside before unleashing a powerful shot past Barsham.
The turnaround was completed for UAE in the 80th minute when full-back Khaled Aldhanhani intercepted a pass, burst forward to receive Harib’s return and then unleashed a shot straight into the top corner.
There was drama late in the game when referee Shaun Evans pointed to the spot after he spotted a handball from Nader but following a VAR check, the decision was reversed and with that, so was Qatar’s chance to rescue the game.
UAE went on to add a third in stoppage time through substitute Ali Saleh, benefiting from a defensive mistake to strike his shot into the roof of the net, sealing the win for the Emiratis. (with inputs from AFC)
