The UAE’s hopes of making it to the 2026 World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States look increasingly distant after they lost 1-0 against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
The tie was settled from the penalty spot, after Khalifa Al Hammadi was ruled to have handled the ball on the edge of the UAE’s six-yard box.
Otabek Shukurov thrilled the packed crowd at the Milliy Stadium in the Uzbek capital as he made no mistake from 12 yards out.
It was the decisive action from a controversial evening, which also saw Abdulla Hamad sent off, and Paulo Bento, the UAE coach, booked for dissent.
Given the form of the two sides, the UAE might have been surprised by just how easily they were able to establish themselves at the start.
Coming into the game, Uzbekistan were flying high at the top of the group and had held top-ranked Iran to a draw at the same venue five days earlier.
The UAE, by contrast, had felt deflated after their insipid display against North Korea last time out, when they could only take a point against a lowly-ranked opposition. And yet they settled by far the quicker of the two sides.
Within the first 15 minutes, Harib Abdallah, Caio Canedo and Yahya Al Ghassani – twice – had all had presentable openings. The fact all were squandered felt like it could be telling as the game progressed.
Their frustrations started to tell. Khalid Al Dhanhani, the UAE right back, suffered a head injury in a clash while in the attacking third of the field.
Fu Ming, the referee from China, allowed play to continue and, although Khalid Essa ultimately extinguished the danger as the home team attacked, the UAE bench were livid.
When play finally halted and Al Dhanhani was permitted treatment, Bento vented his annoyance fully at the official. All it achieved was earning himself a yellow card.
The hosts were beginning to gain a foothold by that stage, and were threatening towards the end of the first half, but it was still the UAE who were forging the better chances.
Still, though, they were profligate. Straight after the interval, an intricate break gave Tahnoon Al Zaabi a shooting chance from the edge of the Uzbek box, but he aimed it straight at the home goalkeeper.
Moments later, Abdallah was clean through yet could only scoop a chip past Utkir Yusupov, the Uzbek keeper, on to the roof of the net.
They would have been ruing their wastefulness shortly after were it not for the excellence of Al Ghassani. The forward was back in the starting line-up after his goalscoring cameo from the bench against North Korea on Thursday.
He carried an attacking threat all game against the Uzbeks but his most valuable contribution was defensively.
With the goal at his mercy, Abbosbek Fayzullaev was lining up the opener for the hosts, only to have his pocket picked by a fine last-ditch challenge by Al Ghassani.
The face of the game altered in the 66th minute when Hamad, the UAE’s defensive midfielder, was shown a straight red card.
The Al Wahda player made a lunge while attempting to stop Sherzod Nasrullaev, the Uzbek left wing back, from crossing.
The UAE players protested, but Hamad’s challenge had been reckless, and he made contact with Nasrullaev’s shin with some force.
Bento responded with a double substitution, bringing on Bruno de Oliveira for his second cap – he debuted in the starting XI on Thursday – and Issam Faiz. But the home side were gaining in stature even before gaining a man advantage.
Uzbekistan went ahead in contentious circumstances, from the penalty spot. Bobur Abdikholikov’s volley was blocked at point-blank range by Al Hammadi’s forearm.
The fact it hit his arm was unquestionable. What was open to debate was how the UAE defender could possibly have avoided it. His arms were in front of him, made his silhouette no larger, and he had had little time to react.
Shukurov ended the debate, though, as he rolled his penalty into the net off Essa’s left-hand post.
A man down, the UAE never really threatened thereafter, and if there was to be another goal, it felt the hosts were the more likely. As it was, they had to be satisfied with just the single goal win.
The result means, with six matches to go in the third round of Asian qualifying, the Uzbeks now have a six-point cushion over the UAE.
If the UAE are to breath life into their flagging chances of making the top two in the group, it feels certain they will need maximum points in the next international break.
They have back-to-back home games in November, first against Kyrgyzstan then against Qatar.
