The national football team faces a tough test this evening when it confronts its Jordanian counterpart at 21:00 UAE time on Al Bayt Stadium in Doha. This is the first match of Group Three of the 2025 Arabian Gulf Cup, hosted by Qatar from January 1st to 18th. The group includes, in addition to the UAE and Jordan, both Egypt and Kuwait. 'Al-Abid' (the team's nickname) aims for a strong start in the tournament despite the difficult task, hoping to present a different image from that of the recent period and to compensate for their failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after wasting several chances in the group and Asian playoff stages. The UAE team will play its second match against Egypt next Saturday on Lusail Stadium before concluding its first-round matches against Kuwait on the 9th of the month on Stadium 974. The historical matchups in recent years have favored the UAE team, as the two teams have met four times recently, with 'Al-Abid' winning three matches against a single victory for Jordan. The last encounter between them was on May 24, 2021, on Rashid Stadium in Dubai, where the UAE team won 5-1 in a friendly match in preparation for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The UAE also won 3-1 in the October 14, 2009, match and triumphed 1-0 in a friendly on December 30, 2014. Jordan won 3-1 in the 2016 King's Cup Thailand on June 3rd, when they advanced to the final at the time. The UAE team is participating in the tournament for the third time, after finishing fourth in the 1998 edition and being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2021 edition by losing 0-5 to Qatar. Meanwhile, Jordan enters its 10th participation since the first edition in Lebanon in 1963 and comes into the current tournament with high morale after their historic qualification for the 2026 World Cup. The tournament poses a significant challenge for the Romanian coach, Ilie Balaci, who hopes to make a clear mark with the team, following the criticism that the team's performance received during the World Cup qualifiers. The team suffered a major blow with an injury to the main goalkeeper, Khalid Eisa, in the hamstring a few days before the tournament's start, but Balaci is counting on a group of capable players who can make a difference, such as: Caio Lucas, Loayth Mohammad, Marcão, and Nicolás Giménez. The national team concluded its preparations for the tournament with a short three-day camp in Dubai before continuing its training in Doha since last Friday. In contrast, the Jordanian team, led by coach Jamal Salami, enters the tournament with great confidence, thanks to the remarkable progress in their journey recently and their qualification for the 2026 World Cup. The team includes prominent players like Yazid Abu Laila and Youssef Al-Rashdan, while it lacks the services of several of its stars, most notably Musa Al-Tamimi and Yazid Al-Arab.
