Thursday 13/November/2025 – 08:08 PM
The first leg of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup ended a short while ago Emirates and Iraq At Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The first leg of the Asian World Cup qualifiers… Iraq returns with a valuable point from the Emirates
The match between the UAE and Iraq in the first leg of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup ended in a positive draw with a goal to match; The decision will be postponed until the next match on November 18 at Basra International Stadium.
The first half of the UAE-Iraq match ended with Iraqi control with Imtiaz, and that control was translated into the first goal in the 10th minute of the match by striker Ali Al Hammadi, after which the Al-Rafidain Lions missed a large number of balls that were enough to decide the qualification for the global playoff early.
The UAE national team punished its Iraqi counterpart for the missed opportunities by scoring the first goal and the equalizer in the 18th minute, through Luanzinho from Assist Abdullah Ramadan.
The Iraqi national team almost snatched the lead before the end of the first half, but the players were adept at wasting easy opportunities, while the UAE players were also adept at wasting opportunities and wasting an important victory on their home soil among their fans in the second half.
The UAE national team scored a fatal goal in the 90th + 5th minute through Kayo, but it was canceled due to offside. The match ended in a positive draw with one goal for the same.
With that result, in the return match, the Iraqi team will need a goalless draw in order to reach the global playoff, while a 1-1 result leads to penalty kicks, while any other tie leads to the qualification of the UAE, which only needs a win or any draw other than 0-0.
The match between Iraq and the Emirates will be held in a home-and-away format, in the Asian playoff, and the winner will qualify for a global playoff to be held in March 2026, through which two teams from all continents that will compete in the playoff will qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals. To complete the contract of the finalists.
