On November 20th, in the 6th round of the third stage of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers Group A, the UAE hosted Qatar at home.
Key Events
In the 4th minute of the first half, Gasani made a tackle in the front field and advanced to the penalty area. He sent a low pass to the front of the goal, and Delima followed up with a powerful shot that Basham could not stop, giving the UAE a dream start, 1-0!
In the 42nd minute, Delima delivered a lobbed pass, and Bruno took the ball and charged into the penalty area for a semi-one-on-one shot, which was saved by Basham. Suheil’s aggressive counter-tackle caused Mendes to foul, earning the UAE a penalty kick.
In the 45th minute, Delima converted the penalty, scoring his second goal of the match, putting the UAE ahead 2-0 against Qatar.
In the 5th minute of stoppage time, Suheil won a free-kick, and from 28 meters out, Delima curled a beautiful shot into the top right corner, completing his hat-trick. The UAE led 3-0.
Match Report
In the 17th minute, Al-Merzi took a powerful shot from 30 meters out, but the ball sailed over the crossbar.
In the 18th minute, Al-Merchi fouled Fahad with a sliding tackle, and the referee showed him a yellow card.
In the 28th minute, Afif played a through ball from outside the penalty area, and Batia ran in from the left flank to take a shot from a tight angle, hitting the post and bouncing out. The UAE narrowly avoided a goal.
In the 32nd minute, Gasani cut in from the left wing and took a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area, which was heading for the top right corner, but Basham was helpless as the crossbar saved Qatar.
In the 42nd minute, Mustafa broke through in the penalty area and fell, but the referee deemed it not a foul and allowed play to continue.
During the stoppage time, a major controversy erupted when Basham came out of his box and collided with Bruno, but the referee indicated no foul!
The first half ended with the UAE leading Qatar 3-0.
Player Lineups
UAE Starting Lineup (4-2-3-1):
17-Essa; 19-Ibrahim; 12-Alhammadi; 14-Vinicius; 5-Oten; 10-Delima; 15-Nader; 20-Gasani; 9-Suheil; 6-Almerzi; 23-Bruno;
Substitutes: 1-Kasef; 22-Makbali; 13-Atas; 3-Sultan; 4-Hashemi; 18-Hunt; 8-Tamano; 21-Faz; 16-Balushi; 11-Canedo; 2-Bader; 7-Ndiaye;
Qatar Starting Lineup (3-4-1-2):
22-Basham; 16-Hu; 12-Mendes; 5-Salman; 20-Fahad; 10-Afif; 4-Bayati; 8-Abdulsalam; 13-Mohammed; 19-Ali; 23-Mustafa;
Substitutes: 21-Zakaria; 1-Badredlin; 2-Mukhtar; 15-Lawi; 14-Ahmed; 3-Yusuf; 17-Ismail; 6-Hatem; 18-Marshar; 9-Montari; 7-Al-Ghanem; 11-Abdulrasag;
