33·Legends

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United Arab Emirates

The thirty-three greatest. Build your eleven, then settle the duels.

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The 33 of United Arab Emirates

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1 AA 87 Adnan Al-Talyani Al-Shaab CSCIn Singapore on 28 October 1989 he scored in the 16th minute against South Korea, and the 1-1 draw that followed carried the UAE to Italia 90, the only World Cup the country has reached. He remains its most capped player with 161 appearances, finished runner-up at the 1996 Asian Cup at home and in three Gulf Cups, played all twenty seasons of his club career at Al-Shaab, and was later voted UAE player of the century. ST1989–96

2 IM 86 Ismail Matar Al-Wahda S.C.C., Al Sadd Sports ClubOn 30 January 2007 at Zayed Sports City he beat Oman with a 72nd-minute goal to win the UAE the Gulf Cup, the fifth of five in a tournament he left as top scorer and best player. He won it again in 2013, became the first Arab to take a World Youth Championship Golden Ball in 2003, and gave Al Wahda 23 seasons, 101 goals and three league titles, with 36 more in 136 caps for the national team. SS2003–13

3 OA 86 Omar Abdulrahman Al AinOn 3 September 2015 in Abu Dhabi, he set up six of the ten goals as the United Arab Emirates beat Malaysia 10-0 in World Cup qualifying and was named man of the match. Asian Footballer of the Year in 2016, he was the Champions League's most valuable player that year as Al Ain reached the final, won the 2013 Gulf Cup and its MVP award, and four UAE league titles. CAM2013–16

4 AM 85 Ali Mabkhout Al Jazira ClubFourteen seconds into the UAE's group game against Bahrain in Canberra on 15 January 2015, Mabkhout had already scored, the fastest goal in Asian Cup history. He finished that tournament as top scorer with five goals, won the Gulf Cup in 2013, took silver at the 2010 Asian Games, and stands as the UAE's record scorer with 85 goals in 115 caps, with three league titles and 218 league goals for Al Jazira. ST2010–15

5 AK 83 Ahmed Khalil Four of the ten went to him on 3 September 2015, when the UAE buried Malaysia at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in a World Cup qualifier that finished 10-0. Asian Footballer of the Year in 2015, Gulf Cup winner in 2013, 48 goals in 105 caps, three Pro League titles and the 2015 Asian Champions League final with Al Ahli, and Asian Games silver in 2010. ST2010–15

6 FK 82 Fahad Khamis Al WaslItaly, summer 1990: the UAE walked out for the only World Cup they have ever reached, and it was Khamis in the number seven shirt wearing the captain's armband against Colombia and Yugoslavia. He scored 28 goals in 68 caps, took the GCC Golden Boot in 1982/83 and the Gulf Cup scoring prize in 1986, played the Asian Cups of 1984 and 1988, and spent seventeen senior seasons at Al Wasl across five of the club's league titles. ST1982–90

7 KI 82 Khalid Ismail A minute into the second half at the San Siro on 15 June 1990, two goals down to West Germany, he scored the first World Cup goal the United Arab Emirates ever had, and Lothar Matthäus answered sixty seconds later. Fifty caps and seven goals between 1985 and 1994 took in the 1988 and 1992 Asian Cups, a fourth-place finish in Japan, and the only World Cup his country has ever reached. LM1985–94

8 ZB 82 Zuhair Bakhit Al WaslThe 1987-88 season ended with him as the league's leading scorer, and he was still at Al Wasl sixteen years later, the only club he ever played for. Italia 90 was the peak of an international run worth 112 caps and 27 goals, with Al Wasl league titles in 1987-88, 1991-92 and 1996-97, the 1986-87 President's Cup, and five Gulf Cups and three Asian Cups on the way. LM1986–96

9 FK 81 Faisal Khalil Shabab AlAhli Dubai Club, Al WaslThe number that follows him is 82 league goals in 126 games for Al Ahli between 1999 and 2006, a run that ended with a move to Châteauroux in France where he never played a competitive match. The 2007 Gulf Cup with the UAE sits above two league titles and three President's Cups at Al Ahli, and in 2007/08 he was both the league's leading scorer and its Best Emirati Player. SS1999–2007

10 MM 81 Mohsin Musabah Eighteen seasons and 678 appearances at Al-Sharjah, one club from 1984 to 2002, and in between he started all three of the United Arab Emirates' matches at Italia 90. Runner-up at the 1996 Asian Cup on home soil in Abu Dhabi, 105 caps between 1988 and 1999, three Asian Cup tournaments in 1988, 1992 and 1996, and a place at the 1997 Confederations Cup. GK1984–2002

11 AM 80 Abdulrahman Mohamed Against West Germany at the 1990 World Cup he wore the UAE captain's armband, an Al Nasr defender from Dubai leading his country out against the eventual champions. He won 33 caps and scored four goals for the national team, was named in the 1988 Asian Cup squad, and belongs to the generation that took the UAE to the only World Cup finals it has ever reached. CB1988–90

12 SK 80 Subait Khater Al Ain, Al Jazira ClubBetween 1999 and 2011 he won 120 caps for the UAE, and he had already given Al Ain 203 league games and 38 goals from a position not meant to produce them. The AFC Champions League came in 2003 with Al Ain, five league titles there and a sixth with Al Jazira in 2010/11, six President's Cups across the two clubs, and Emirati Player of the Year in 2000/01 and 2004/05. CDM1999–2011

13 AJ 79 Abdulrahim Jumaa Al-Wahda S.C.C., Al Jazira ClubWearing the armband at Zayed Sports City on 30 January 2007, he saw Ismail Matar's 72nd-minute goal settle the Gulf Cup final against Oman and hand the United Arab Emirates the first trophy in their history. Around that Gulf Cup sit 115 caps and eight goals from 1998 to 2009, a place in FIFA's century club, the captaincy at the 2007 Asian Cup, and 27 World Cup qualifying appearances. CDM1998–2009

14 AK 79 Ali Khaseif Al Jazira ClubAl Jazira's number one through the 2017 Club World Cup on home soil, he kept clean sheets in 1-0 wins over Auckland City and Urawa Red Diamonds before Real Madrid needed goals from Ronaldo and Bale to beat them on 13 December. Three UAE Pro League titles and three President's Cup wins with Al Jazira, Asian Games silver in 2010, 72 caps, and 324 league appearances for the one club between 2005 and 2022. GK2005–22

15 AA 79 Amer Abdulrahman Baniyas SC, Al AinHis first senior cap came on 12 November 2009 in a friendly against Manchester City, at 20, and he stayed in the squad long enough to reach 78 caps without ever leaving the UAE league. His medal list starts with the 2013 Gulf Cup and takes in third place at the 2015 Asian Cup, Asian Games silver in 2010, the AFC U-19 title in 2008 and the GCC Champions League with Baniyas in 2012/13. CM2008–15

16 IA 79 Ismail Ahmed Al AinHe led Al Ain out as captain against Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final at Zayed Sports City on 22 December 2018, ten years into a one-club career that ran to 192 league games and 19 goals from centre-back. Four UAE Pro League titles, three President's Cups, runner-up in the 2016 AFC Champions League and that 2018 final, third place at the 2015 Asian Cup, and the 2016 Champions League All-Star squad. CB2015–18

17 WA 79 Walid Abbas Al Shabab Al Arabi Club, Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubA centre-back of 1.73 metres does not usually last fifteen years in international football, yet his UAE career ran from 2008 to 2023 and reached 106 caps across three Asian Cups. He won the Pro League twice with Al Ahli, in 2013-14 and 2015-16, reached the 2015 Asian Champions League final, scored seven times for the UAE, and made 256 league appearances across eleven seasons at Al Shabab. LB2008–23

18 BS 78 Basheer Saeed Al-Wahda S.C.C., Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubHe kept scoring for a defender, his international goals landing against Yemen at the 2007 Gulf Cup and against Vietnam, North Korea and Lebanon in World Cup qualifying between 2007 and 2012. That Gulf Cup, won at home in 2007, is the biggest thing he owns, along with Asian Cup campaigns in 2004 and 2007 and thirteen seasons at Al Wahda across the club's strongest run of league titles. CB2004–12

19 HA 78 Hamdan Al-Kamali Al-Wahda S.C.C., Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubJean-Michel Aulas presented him in Lyon on 28 January 2012, a six-month loan with an option to buy that ended in eight reserve-team games and not a single minute for the first team. Back home the record reads better: the 2013 Gulf Cup, third place at the 2015 Asian Cup, Asian Games silver in 2010, the 2008 AFC U-19 title, a league championship with Al Wahda in 2009-10, and 53 caps with five goals. CB2008–15

20 IA 78 Ismail Al-Hammadi Shabab AlAhli Dubai Club, Khor Fakkan ClubSeventeen minutes into extra time in Riffa on 18 January 2013, he scored the goal that won the UAE the Gulf Cup final against Iraq, arriving after Younis Mahmoud had dragged the match past ninety minutes. Gulf Cup winner that night, third at the 2015 Asian Cup and a semi-finalist in 2019, 115 caps with 13 goals, and 274 games with 46 goals across fourteen years at Shabab Al Ahli. RM2013–19

21 MN 78 Majed Naser Al-Fujairah, Al WaslIn 2012 he was banned for seventeen matches for slapping an opposing coach and announced he was quitting, which followed a full year's suspension in 2001 and another ban for confronting an assistant referee in 2007. He came back, captained the UAE at the 2015 Asian Cup where they finished third, kept goal at three Asian Cups in all, and won league titles at Al Wasl and Al Ahli across more than 300 Pro League appearances. GK2001–15

22 AS 77 Abdulaziz Sanqour Sharjah, Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubNumber 14 in Mahdi Ali's squad at London 2012, he was there when the United Arab Emirates walked out at Wembley on 29 July and Ryan Giggs scored inside sixteen minutes for Great Britain. His medals came the following January with the 2013 Gulf Cup, then third place at the 2015 Asian Cup, 36 caps with one goal, and eleven seasons at Shabab Al-Ahli. RB2012–15

23 BA 77 Bandar Al-Ahbabi Al Dhafra Club, Baniyas SCBoth legs of the 2024 Asian Champions League final had him as Al Ain's captain, and on 25 May at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium his side turned a first-leg defeat into a 5-1 win over Yokohama F. Marinos. Asian champion that season, three Pro League titles with Al Ain in 2011-12, 2017-18 and 2021-22, a President's Cup and a League Cup, and a place in the 2019 Asian Cup Team of the Tournament. RB2011–24

24 HF 77 Habib Fardan Al-Wasl SC, AlshariqaSix years at Al Nasr brought him 27 goals in 72 league games, a strike rate a central midfielder is not expected to carry, and he added six more for the UAE against Kuwait, Vietnam twice, Trinidad and Tobago, Georgia and Malaysia. He finished third with the UAE at the 2015 Asian Cup, won 53 caps between 2011 and 2019, and was in the squad that played the London Olympics in 2012. CM2011–19

25 KE 77 Khamis Esmail His only goal in 77 caps came at the right moment: the opener against Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City on 21 January 2019, in a last-sixteen tie the United Arab Emirates eventually won 3-2 in extra time. He won the 2013 Gulf Cup, took third place at the 2015 Asian Cup, went to the London Olympics, and stayed in the national side from 2012 to 2022. CDM2012–22

26 MH 77 Majed Hassan Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubOne goal in seventy-one internationals, and he chose the Gulf Cup for it, against Bahrain on 8 January 2013 in the tournament the UAE went on to win. Gulf Cup winner that month and third at the 2015 Asian Cup, he collected two Pro League titles and three President's Cup wins at Shabab Al Ahli, lost the 2015 Asian Champions League final with them, and won the AFC Champions League Two with Sharjah in 2024-25. CM2013–24

27 MA 77 Mohammed Abdulrahman On 18 December 2018 Al Ain put River Plate out of the Club World Cup on penalties, and four days later he was part of the squad beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid in the final at Zayed Sports City. He won four UAE league titles with Al Ain between 2011/12 and 2017/18, the President's Cup in 2013/14, reached the AFC Champions League final in 2016 and finished third at the 2015 Asian Cup alongside his brother Omar. CAM2011–18

28 MS 77 Mohanad Salem Al Dhafra Club, Al AinThe first goal of the United Arab Emirates' 10-0 win over Malaysia at Zayed Sports City on 3 September 2015 came from a centre-back, and it was Salem, then in his eighth season at Al Ain. The 2013 Gulf Cup leads it, then third place at the 2015 Asian Cup, a run to the 2016 AFC Champions League final where he partnered Ismail Ahmed at centre-back, and fourteen years at Al Ain across 181 league games. CB2013–16

29 AH 76 Abdelaziz Hussain Al Shabab Al Arabi Club, Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubFourteen seasons at Al Ahli in Dubai brought him 245 appearances and three goals, a run that outlasted the 2017 merger which turned the club into Shabab Al Ahli. Three UAE league titles came his way, in 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2022-23, with two President's Cups, and he was part of the squad that finished third at the 2015 Asian Cup after taking Asian Games silver in Guangzhou in 2010. LB2010–22

30 AM 76 Abdulaziz Mohamed SharjahSharjah signed him as a teenager in 1980 and he was still registered there in 2003, twenty-three seasons in one shirt, the last of them long after his 1993-94 season as the league's leading scorer. Four UAE league titles came in that time, alongside a place in the squad that carried the Emirates to their first World Cup in Italy in 1990 and the home run to the 1996 Asian Cup final. CM1980–2003

31 KG 76 Khalil Ghanim Khor Fakkan ClubBologna, 19 June 1990: Ghanim collected a second yellow after 76 minutes against Yugoslavia, ending the United Arab Emirates' first World Cup a man down in a 4-1 defeat. He had helped get them there with a goal against Qatar in qualifying, won 52 caps between 1985 and 1990, played at the 1984 and 1988 Asian Cups, and spent a decade at Al Khaleej in Sharjah. CAM1984–90

32 MQ 76 Mohammed Qasim Between 2002 and 2010 he won 68 caps for the UAE and scored once, the honest arithmetic of a centre back who also spent eleven straight seasons at Al Ahli Dubai. He played at the 2004 and 2007 Asian Cups and the 2002 Asian Games, and his time at Al Ahli covered the league titles of 2005-06 and 2008-09 together with President's Cups in 2002, 2004 and 2008. CB2002–10

33 HA 75 Hareb Abdullah Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubOn 29 March 2022 at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai he scored the only goal against South Korea in a World Cup qualifier, at nineteen, the son of the former international Abdullah Suhail. A UAE Pro League title and a President's Cup with Shabab Al Ahli sit alongside the 2023 Asian Cup and eight goals in 47 caps, among them the equaliser in a 3-1 win away to Qatar in September 2024. RM2022–24

About this XI

At the head of United Arab Emirates's pool stand Adnan Al-Talyani, Ismail Matar and Omar Abdulrahman. The 33 covers 3 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 14 midfielders and 6 forwards. Adnan Al-Talyani leads the pool at 87 overall. Pick a formation, drag your eleven onto the pitch, then settle the duels below. Your votes reorder the people's ranking of these 33 in real time.

Who is the greatest United Arab Emirates footballer of all time?

In the 33 Legends editorial ranking, Adnan Al-Talyani leads United Arab Emirates with an overall rating of 87. The editorial top five: Adnan Al-Talyani, Ismail Matar, Omar Abdulrahman, Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Khalil. The people's ranking on this page moves with every duel vote and can disagree.

How were these 33 United Arab Emirates players chosen?

The pool covers every position across United Arab Emirates's football history. Ratings weigh peak level, longevity, honours and historical standing, then the full methodology page explains the tiers. Fan votes in the duels build a second, independent ranking.

Which United Arab Emirates players reach the Immortal tier or higher?

None yet. Adnan Al-Talyani leads the United Arab Emirates pool at 87, in the Icon tier.

Can I build and share my own United Arab Emirates all-time XI?

Yes. Pick one of eight formations, drag any of the 33 onto the pitch, and export your lineup as a PNG. There is no account and no sign-up.