The UAE national football team opens its campaign at the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup on Thursday, September 25, against Yemen at Alinma Stadium (King Abdullah Sports City) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The match places the Emirates in Group B alongside Qatar and Bahrain in what promises to be a tightly contested opening round.
The fixture marks Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic's first major tournament match in charge of the UAE since he took over the national team in August. Dalic, who previously led Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final, now carries the weight of expectation as the Emirates chase a return to regional football prominence after a lean stretch of results.
The UAE have lifted the Gulf Cup twice before, in 2007 and 2013, and a strong run this year would hand the team a third title. Yemen, by contrast, have never won the tournament, and simply competing at this level remains a notable achievement for a squad that has long operated under the strain of domestic instability back home.
Regional football analysts see Thursday's match as an early test of Dalic's tactical approach, which favours a compact defensive block and rapid transitions into attack — a departure from the more possession-heavy style of his predecessors. UAE's core players spent recent weeks in a closed training camp in Abu Dhabi to prepare for the seven-team tournament.
The result will shape the Emirates' path through Group B, where holders Qatar remain among the tournament favourites alongside host-nation rivals and Bahrain.