Qatar 1-3 UAE: Player ratings as the Sons of Zayed come from behind to beat the Asian champions
The UAE beat Qatar 3-1 in their opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Ibrahim Ali put the Asian champions in front after only 12 minutes, but they imploded in the last 20 minutes. Harib Abdalla equalized for the Sons of Zayed in the 68th minute, before Khaled Ibrahim made it 2-1 with only 10 minutes of normal time remaining. Ali Saleh then put the final nail in Qatar’s coffin with a third in the fourth minute of added time. Here are the player ratings for Qatar and the UAE:
Qatar National Football Team Player Ratings vs UAE
Goalkeeper
Meshaal Aissa Barsham – 4/10: Didn’t make a single save in the match
Defenders
Pedro Miguel – 7.5/10: Showed great vision and timed his tackles to perfection
Tarek Salman – 7.5/10: Demonstrated his aerial prowess by winning six aerial duels but struggled to get hold of UAE’s forwards at times
Lucas Mendes – 7.5/10: Fought tooth and nail, winning 10 duels in total, and completed 90% of his passes too
Midfielders
Ismael Mohammad – 7/10: A constant supplier of terrific crosses
Jassem Abdulsallam – 6/10: Too sloppy on the ball and couldn’t offer any resistance to UAE’s movements
Ahmed Fathy – 7/10: Won eight ground duels in the game as Fathy bit at the heels of UAE’s forwards
Ibrahim Al-Hassan – 8/10: Put the Maroons in front after 38 minutes with a well-taken goal
Mohammed Waad – 7.5/10: Laid six crosses in the game and twisted the UAE defense inside out
Forwards
Akram Afif – 7/10: Lacked his usual attacking flair but assisted Ali for their opener
Almoez Ali – 5/10: Was starved of proper service and failed to muster a single effort on target
Substitutes
Abdelaziz Hatem – 6/10
Homam Ahmed – 6.5/10
Karim Boudiaf – 5/10
Abdelrahman Moustafa – 6/10
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UAE National Football Team Player Ratings vs Qatar
Goalkeeper
Khalid Eisa – 6/10: Couldn’t keep out Ali’s goal but faced barely any challenge besides that moment
Defenders
Khaled Aldhanhani – 8/10: Turned the match around with a late goal
Khalifa Al-Hammadi – 7.5/10: With four clearances and interceptions each, Al-Hammadi put on a defensive masterclass to frustrate Qatar
Kouame Autonne Kouadio – 7.5/10: Played a big role in keeping Qatar at bay with three clearances, four interceptions, and one blocked shot
Abdulla Idrees – 7/10: Made a game-high of six clearances but was horrible at passing
Midfielders
Harib Suhail – 7.5/10: Brought the UAE level at the hour mark with a clinical strike and assisted Ibrahim for their second too
Abdullah Al Menhali – 7.5/10: Never hesitated to jump into tackles and won most of his duels too
Yahia Nader – 7.5/10: Bagged the assist for their equalizer and created a few other chances too
Yahya Alghassani – 5.5/10: Hardly saw the ball and lost most of his duels too
Forwards
Tahnoon Alzaabi – 7/10: Sent in a lot of crosses but never posed a direct threat to Qatar
Caio Canedo – 7/10: Competed hard for the ball but didn’t muster a single shot on target
Substitutes
Ali Saleh – 7.5/10
Mackenzie Hunt – 7/10
Mohammad Abbas – 6/10
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