Although the UAE national team faced widespread criticism from analysts, due to what they considered a defect in the defensive system as a result of receiving easy goals, or through balls that fortunately bounced off the post and the crossbar, the numbers indicate exactly the opposite, and confirm that “Al-Abyad” has the best line. Defense is in its first group in the decisive qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. It also comes in second place among all Asian teams participating in the qualifiers, after Japan, which scored 22. A goal and only conceded two goals.
The team’s net conceded the least goals in the first group, ahead of Iran, the top of the standings, and Uzbekistan, the second-placed team, after the end of the sixth round, as the “White” net conceded only four goals in six matches, compared to scoring 12 goals, followed by the Iranian national team, which tops the standings, and Uzbekistan. The team ranked second, after conceding five goals each. North Korea is in third place with nine goals conceded, Kyrgyzstan is in fourth place with 13 goals, and Qatar is in last place after conceding 17 goals.
“Al-Abyad” also leads the group in terms of the highest net goal score in the group with eight goals, ahead of second-placed Iran with seven goals, then Uzbekistan with three goals, North Korea at the bottom of the group (-4 goals), and Qatar and Kyrgyzstan each (-7 goals).
“Al-Abyad” also leads with its counterpart, the Iranian national team, in the ranking of the group’s top teams in scoring goals, with 12 goals each, but “Al-Abyad” excels in net goals. Qatar comes in third place with 10 goals, Uzbekistan fourth with eight goals, Kyrgyzstan fifth with six goals, and North Korea sixth with five goals.
The UAE national team played six matches, winning three of them, drawing one match, and losing two matches.
It is noteworthy that the Iranian team leads the group standings with 16 points, followed by Uzbekistan with 13 points, then the UAE with 10 points, the Qatari team with seven points, Kyrgyzstan with three points, and North Korea with only two points.
According to these numbers, the Portuguese national team coach, Paulo Bento, succeeded in putting the national team on the right track, and strengthened its chances to compete for the second direct qualification ticket to the World Cup, after leading it to a historic victory over its Qatari counterpart by five clean goals, in the sixth round, Thus, he achieved the largest victory in the qualifiers in this group.
The team – according to these positive technical indicators – is now a few steps away from achieving the dream of qualifying for the World Cup for the second time in its history after the 1990 World Cup, as it has only four matches remaining in these qualifiers against Iran, North Korea, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The victory over the Qatari national team was the 13th out of 21 official and friendly matches that the national team played during Pinto’s reign, since he took over as coach on July 9, 2023.
For its part, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) said on its official website, following the UAE national team’s 5-0 victory over its Qatari counterpart, that the UAE national team is on a good path to qualify for the World Cup.
The strength of the defense system
The former World Cup player and technical analyst, Abdul Rahman Muhammad, said, “The national team has now greatly increased its chances to compete for the second direct qualification ticket to the World Cup, and is close to competing with the Uzbekistan national team, which is ranked second in the group’s standings, and the difference between them is now only three points,” stressing. However, “Pinto employed the players well in terms of the cohesion of the defensive system, which proved its worth, through the few goals that the team conceded, compared to the rest of its competitors, as well as The attacking force that appeared in the Qatar match, after coach Pinto relied on Fabio Lima in the last squad as one of the main elements, after everyone demanded that, especially since Lima is a player who can make a great addition to the team by taking advantage of his skill and individual capabilities, and this was greatly demonstrated in the Qatar match. ».
Abdul Rahman Muhammad stressed that the team is already on the right path under the leadership of coach Pinto, and “it is very important to build on the great victory it achieved over the Qatari team, and to prepare well for the upcoming matches, and it has a very great opportunity ahead of it, especially since the team will be supported greatly.” “There will be very good players in the coming period who will join its ranks, and Pinto can benefit from them in all positions, and this represents a strong addition to the team.”
Abdul Rahman Muhammad added to “Emirates Today” that “the national team has three matches left outside its stadium, and only one match at home with its direct competitor, which is the Uzbek national team, so it is very important to win over it, but before this match, the national team has two matches away from its stadium against Iran.” And North Korea, and it is very important to get out of them with the least damage.”
. The team will be supported very much in the coming period with good elements.
. The victory over Qatar was the 13th out of 21 official and friendly matches that the team played with Pinto.
. “White” scored 12 goals and conceded 4 goals, compared to 22 goals for Japan and conceded 2 goals.
. The team’s net conceded the least goals in the first group.
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