United Arab Emirates women's national football team

The United Arab Emirates women's national football team is the female representative association football team for the United Arab Emirates. The team competes as a member of AFC in various international tournaments such as the FIFA Women's World Cup, AFC Women's Asian Cup, the Summer Olympics and the West Asian Football Federation Cup.

United Arab Emirates

Nickname(s)	Al Abyad
Association	U.A.E. Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Houriya Al Taheri
Captain	Nora Al Mazrouie
FIFA code	UAE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	91 6 (18 December 2020)[1]
Highest	73 (March–July 2015)
Lowest	136 (2011)
First international
United Arab Emirates 4–2 Palestine  (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 20 February 2010)
Biggest win
United Arab Emirates 7–0 Kuwait  (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 24 February 2010)
Biggest defeat
Slovakia 9–0 United Arab Emirates  (Senec, Slovakia; 5 August 2015)

The UAE women's national team has yet to qualify on the international stage for any FIFA Women's World Cups. They have competed in the AFC Asian Cup qualification in 2017 but failed to reach the next round. They are considered a low-tier national team who compete with newly established women's federations across Asia and Europe. The team has won the WAFF Women's Championship in 2010 and 2011.

History

Women's athletics was long met with skepticism in the UAE, as in the rest of the world, where cultural norms often form obstacles that forbid women from taking part in sports activities. However, prominent backing by governmental female figures in the country has seen a cultural shift for adapting to accepting females as sports contenders. In 2009, the UAE Football Association formed the women's football committee dedicated to creating a team that could officially represent the country on the international stage but did not participate in any official competitions other than WAFF cup.[2][3][4][5][6]

Progress has been slow by the UAE FA in developing the game since its initiation as they have yet to establish a women's football league. None of the professional FA clubs in the UAE have an established women's team on a consistent basis due to lack of incentive by the federation. Often when women's teams are initiated, they are dissolved at the completion of the season due to lack of funding. This attributed the slow progress in creating a consistent women's football competition that mirrors the Arabian Gulf league in the country. As a result, a series of subcommittees have taken on the responsibility to improve the development of women's football within the country such as the Abu Dhabi Sports Council as well as the Fatima bint Mubarak female sports academy. In addition, many private academies and amateur leagues have taken to filling the gap for providing consistent competitions.[7][8]

UAE played their first international match at the 2010 West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship.[9] After a 4–2 over Palestine there, where they went on to win the tournament.[10]

The AFC qualification competition in 2017 was hosted by Tajikistan. This was the team's first campaign to qualify for a major tournament, making history for the UAE women's football team. Asian teams are allocated 5 qualification slots to qualify for the Fifa 2019 World Cup. The confederations then arrange the qualification logistics with the member nations. The AFC decided to merge the qualification campaign for the World Cup 2019 with the 2018 AFC competition with the top 5 teams progressing to the World cup finals.[11]

The opening match of the competition was against a resilient Philippines team, the UAE held the game at until half time but a series of mistakes lead to an eventual 4-0 defeat. The following game saw the UAE take on their fierce rivals Jordan, where they were outclassed by a masterful performance 6-0. a Draw in their next game against Bahrain 1-1 effectively ended their chances of progressing to the knockout stages as a win was required. With the pressure taken away, the UAE triumphed over Iraq 3-0 was the first ever victory in a Women's World Cup qualifier. It was followed up by a second win, against hosts Tajikistan, two days later 1-0. The UAE didn't end up reaching this summer's World Cup in France of AFC knockout stages, finishing fourth in the qualification league.

Coaching staff

Position	Name	Ref.
Head coach	Houriya Al Taheri

Players

Current squad

• The following players were named on date month year for the xxx tournament.
• Caps and goals accurate up to and including date month year.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
22	GK	Nora Al Mazrouie	22 October 1984			Abu Dhabi Country Club
35	GK	Badria Essa	20 December 1993			Abu Dhabi Country Club
	GK	Rawdah Al Thimairi	1 July 1992			Abu Dhabi Country Club
15	DF	Afra Al Mheiri	15 May 1991			Abu Dhabi Country Club
	DF	Manal Abdullah	8 September 1992			Abu Dhabi Country Club
14	DF	Nehal Abdel Aziz	18 April 1978			Abu Dhabi Country Club
2	DF	Salha Rashid	26 May 2001			Markaz Tadreeb Al Fujeirah wu Al Sharjah Al Shargiya
6	DF	Shamma Khamees Al Mansoori	17 November 1992			Abu Dhabi Country Club
25	DF	Oshba Al Mansoori	6 June 1993			Abu Dhabi Country Club
24	DF	Nujood Ibrahim	1 August 2000			Abu Dhabi Country Club
5	DF	Ameena Al Hosani	18 August 1986			Abu Dhabi Country Club
	DF	Eida Jamal	7 March 2001			Markaz tadreeb Al Fujeira wu Al Sharjah Al Shargiya
	DF	Fatmia Jasim	23 April 2002			Abu Dhabi Country Club
21	MF	Reem Al Bloushi	29 September 2002			Markaz Tadreeb Dubai
29	MF	Salamah Mohammed Bin Fahad	28 January 2001			Markaz Tadreeb Dubai
10	MF	Nouf Faleh Al Anzi	14 November 1996			Abu Dhabi Country Club
4	MF	Anood Faleh Al Anzi	20 December 1993			Abu Dhabi Country Club
13	MF	Areej Al Hammadi	13 February 1986			Abu Dhabi Country Club
19	MF	Rawan Al Hammadi	12 November 2002			Abu Dhabi Country Club
9	MF	Shahad Budebs	24 August 1994			Abu Dhabi Country Club
	MF	Salamah Yasir	7 December 1997			Markaz Tadreeb Dubai
30	FW	Naeema Gharib	30 December 1999			Abu Dhabi Country Club
17	FW	Aml Wael	6 June 1991			Abu Dhabi Country Club
11	FW	Anood Khaled	30 October 2001			Abu Dhabi Country Club
	MF	Layla Mohammad	22 April 2001			Markaz Tadreeb Dubai

Recent call ups

• The following players have been called up to the United Arab Emirates squad in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up

Individual records

• *Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 2020.

Most capped players # Player Year(s) Caps

Top goalscorers # Player Year(s) Goals Caps

Managers

• Houriya Al Taheri (–present)

Results and fixtures

• The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixtures

Head-to-head record

As of January 2019

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Azerbaijan	3	0	0	3	4	9	–5
Bahrain	4	2	2	0	10	2	+8
Georgia	6	0	1	5	3	17	–14
Greece	1	0	0	1	0	7	–7
Iran	2	1	0	1	3	6	–3
Iraq	3	3	0	0	13	1	+12
Jordan	3	1	0	2	2	10	–8
Kuwait	1	1	0	0	7	0	+7
Latvia	1	0	0	1	0	2	–2
Lebanon	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6
Luxembourg	2	0	0	2	2	11	–9
Malta	2	0	0	2	0	8	–8
Maldives	4	3	0	1	3	2	+1
Palestine	3	2	1	0	8	4	+4
Philippines	1	0	0	1	0	4	–4
Slovakia	2	0	0	2	0	15	–15
Singapore	2	1	1	0	4	0	+4
Syria	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6
Tajikistan	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Uzbekistan	2	0	0	2	1	13	–12
Total	43	18	5	20	73	106	–33

Honours

Regional

• WAFF Women's Championship

Champions: 2010, 2011

Achievements

World Cup record

For the first time they entered the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification, which acts as Asian qualifier for the 2019 World Cup.

FIFA Women's World Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1991–2015	Did not enter
2019	Did not qualify
2023	To be determined
Total	0/9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games record

Hosts / Year Result GP W D* L GS GA GD 1996 Did not Enter 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Withdrew from qualification Total 0/7 *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. AFC Women's Asian Cup record AFC Women's Asian Cup record Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA 2010 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2014 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2018 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 2022 To Be Determined - - - - - - - Total 0/4 - - - - - - - *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. Asian Games record Football at the Asian Games Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA 1990 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 1994 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 1998 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2002 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2006 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2010 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2014 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - 2018 Did Not Enter - - - - - - - Total 0/8 - - - - - - - WAFF Women's Championship record The United Arab Emirates are twice championshions of the WAFF Women's Championship The event is organized by West Asian Football Federation. It is usually held every two years, but occasionally at longer intervals. Hosts / Year Result GP W D* L GS GA GD 2005 Did not Enter 2007 Did not Enter 2010 Winner 4 4 0 0 16 2 +14 2011 Winner 5 3 1 1 18 6 +12 2014 Did not Enter 2019 Fourth 4 0 2 2 2 7 -5 Total 3/6 13 7 3 3 36 15 +21 *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. See also United Arab Emirates women's national football team results References "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020. - Thursday. "UAE ready for women's football - The National". Thenational.ae. Retrieved 2012-08-02. "UAE's first women's football league launched". GulfNews.com. 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2012-08-02. Zoë Griffiths. "Emirati women not just making up the numbers - The National". Thenational.ae. Retrieved 2012-08-02. Paul Oberjuerge (2012-08-18). "UAE women's national team taking just one game at a time - The National". Thenational.ae. Retrieved 2012-09-19. - Remm Abulleil. "inside story emirati women breaking down barriers compete sport - Sport 360". sport360.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18. "fatima bint Mubarak sports academy". fbma.ae. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019. "UAE womens football". sports industry series. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019. "Women footballers make international debut". thenational.ae. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2017. "UAE triumph in West Asian Women's Championship". thenational.ae. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2017. "FIFA circular for women competition qualifications 2018 2019" (PDF). Fifa.com. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017. External links Official website (in English)