United Arab Emirates will be expecting to maintain their 100% record in World Cup qualifying when they host Yemen on Thursday.
UAE have beaten Bahrain and Nepal in Group H without conceding a goal yet, while Yemen are on three points after beating Nepal and losing to Bahrain.
Match preview
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As the highest ranked nation in Group H, UAE will firmly believe that they should be winning Group H as they aim to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
The Whites finished bottom of Group D with a -9 goal difference at their only ever appearance on international football's grandest stage, although they were handed a tough draw alongside West Germany, Yugoslavia and Colombia. As such, they will be hoping to make a better impression should they make it there again.
With Asia set to benefit from eight automatic places at the expanded 2026 World Cup in North America, UAE are one of a host of nations that will be ramping up their efforts to capitalise on this golden opportunity. Based on FIFA's world rankings, UAE are the ninth best team in Asia, which would mean that they should be qualifying for the final playoff spot at the very least.
That ranking would have been higher had they not suffered a shock penalty shootout defeat to Tajikistan at the recent Asian Cup in January, with Jordan benefitting from that surprising last-16 exit to eventually reach the final.
Paulo Bento and his players will be determined to get back on track, with a double-header against Yemen providing a decent chance to do so.
Indeed, Yemen have only ever qualified for one Asian Cup in their history - when finishing bottom of Group D without a point in UAE in 2019 - so it is no surprise that they have never come close to reaching the World Cup.
The war-torn country ended a winless streak of 14 matches in all competitions to overcome Sri Lanka 4-1 on aggregate in the first round of qualifying, but they were disappointed to lose 2-0 to Bahrain in their opening match at the group stage.
However, they bounced back to defeat Nepal 2-0 in Kathmandu in their last game in November, with Omar Al-Dahi and Mohammed Abdullah Al-Dahi both scoring towards the end of the match. That result means that they are likely to be the nation pushing UAE and Bahrain for one of the two spots to reach the final round of qualifying.
Those outside hopes could be all but ended this time next week, though, should they suffer back-to-back defeats to UAE and Bahrain record successive victories over Nepal as expected. It will take an almighty effort from Miroslav Soukup and his players to avoid that fate.
Team News
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UAE will be without their all-time record goalscorer Ali Mabkhout, who did not play a single minute at the recent Asian Cup due to injury. Bento appears to have moved on from another 100-plus capped veteran in the form of Walid Abbas, who has not played for his country since featuring against Costa Rica in September.
All 26 of UAE's players to have been called up for this double header against Yemen compete in the UAE Pro League, with Fabio Lima (10 goals) and Caio Canedo (nine goals) likely to carry their nation's goalscoring burden in the absence of Mabkhout.
Yemen, meanwhile, will look to their captain Abdulwasea Al Matari as a source of inspiration. The 29-year-old, who plays for Sitra Club in Bahrain, is the only player named in Soukup's squad to have reached double figures in terms of international goals.
Yemen's players are spread across five domestic leagues in total, including Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman and Hungary, which is perhaps not surprising given the nation's ongoing volatility off the pitch.
United Arab Emirates possible starting lineup:
Eisa; Sultan, Al-Hashemi, Al Hammadi, Abaelaziz; Nader, Salmeen; Lima, Alzaabi, Al-Ghassani; Caio
Yemen possible starting lineup:
Al Sadi; Al-Douh, Ghaleb, Al-Ghaili, Al Wajih; Mahrous, Al Maary, Hanash, Sabara; Maher, Al Matari
We say: United Arab Emirates 2-0 Yemen
This should be another comfortable victory for UAE, who will be disappointed if they can not continue their run of clean sheets, let alone wins.
Yemen are no pushovers but they are unlikely to carry enough offensive threat to hurt UAE in key moments, so we are predicting a 2-0 victory for the hosts, who would take a giant step towards the third round of qualifying in the process.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
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