The United Arab Emirates (UAE), led by former South Korean national soccer team head coach Paulo Bento, missed the victory against North Korea at home.
The UAE drew 1-1 at home in the third round of Group A of the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup (co-hosted by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico) against North Korea at the Haja bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, UAE on the 11th (Korea time).
After finishing the first half 0-0, the UAE started to take the lead with Yahia Alsagani’s first goal in the 21st minute of the second half. During UAE counterattack, Alsagani received a pass and went into the right side of the penalty area, shaking the North Korean net with a right footed shot aimed at the near post.
North Korea, which allowed a goal, failed to equalize as it missed a penalty kick. Khalid Ibrahim’s foul in the 29th minute of the second half gave North Korea a penalty kick, which was denied by UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eissa when he read the direction of the kicker Han Kwang-sung’s shot.
UAE did not allow a goal due to goalkeeper Aisa’s penalty save, but it gave up an equalizer to North Korea in the 41st minute of the second half.
On the right side, Choi Ok-chul crossed long into the box, and Jung Il-kwan connected it with a header shot to the head. At this time, Jung Il-kwan’s header shot seemed to be blocked by Aisa’s goalkeeper, but the ball was confirmed to have crossed the line completely, which was recognized as North Korea’s equalizer.
As North Korea scored an equalizer at the end of the second half, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. With the draw, the UAE and North Korea shared one point each.
Bento, a former coach of the South Korean national soccer team who led the Taegeuk Warriors to the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, has been leading the UAE national soccer team since July last year after leaving the national team after his contract expired in December 2022.
Under Bento, the UAE is aiming to advance to the World Cup finals for the first time in 36 years. The UAE, which has not been involved in advancing to the finals since the 1990 World Cup in Italy, has raised expectations for its advance to the finals as the number of tickets to the finals in Asia has increased from 4.5 to 8.33 from the 2026 World Cup in North and Central America.
In the third qualifying round, the UAE, ranked 69th by FIFA, was in Group A along with Iran (19th), Qatar (44th), Uzbekistan (60th), Kyrgyzstan (106th) and North Korea (111th).
The teams that rank first and second in the three groups will advance to the World Cup finals, while the third and fourth places in the group will participate in the Asian qualifying playoff to determine which team will advance to the finals. To secure a safe berth, the UAE has failed to secure three points against North Korea, which is relatively inferior in power.
The UAE had a rough match at home on the day. The UAE had 59-41 ball possession ratio, which was higher than that of the North, but the North pressed the UAE with 17-8 shooting even though it was an away game. The number of shots on goal was also 6-1, so it would not have been strange if the UAE had not shown good defense. 스포츠토토
It also failed to break the North Korean jinx. After beating North Korea 1-0 in a friendly match in July 2007, the UAE had no wins (two draws and two losses) in four consecutive matches, including its home game, and is having difficulty winning against the North.
As the UAE secured only one point in the home game against North Korea, it ranked third in Group A with four points (one win, one draw and one loss). The UAE and Qatar share the same point but are ahead of Qatar in goal difference (UAE +1, Qatar 0), with the UAE ranking third and Qatar ranking fourth.
Uzbekistan and Iran are ranked first and second with seven points (two wins and one draw). North Korea, which had a draw in the away match in the UAE but has yet to win, is ranked fifth with two points (two draws and one loss), while Kyrgyzstan, which has lost all three games so far, is at the bottom of Group A.
