American football national side

UAE U23

National team · United Arab Emirates

«Al-Abyad»

37 Matches

13 wins

5 draws

19 losses

63–48 Goals

+15 Difference

1.7 Scored per game

Form L W D D W L

Bronze at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang is the best the Emirati under-23 side has managed, a run under Hassan Abdulla Al Amiri that stopped one match short of a final.

Al-Abyad, as the side is known, played its first recorded match on 21 September 1986, a 1–0 win over Pakistan in South Korea, yet the football association dates the team's formal existence to 1991, treating it as a separate entity from the country's other youth set-ups. At the AFC U-23 Asian Cup the quarter-finals have marked the ceiling twice, in 2020 and again in 2022. Olympic qualification came in two cycles, for London 2012 and Tokyo 2020.

The side wears white at home and black away, matching the senior team's kit, and works out of Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, a 44,260-capacity stadium it uses for qualifiers and training alike; the smaller Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain serves as a second home when needed.

Saudi Arabia has become the fixture that matters most. The UAE won 2–0 against them in the group stage of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, then lost by the same score at the 2023 WAFF Championship U23. Essam Abdullah Al Ali took charge for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup finals.

Latest results

All matches

16 Sep	Asian Games	Iran U23 H	1:3	L
9 Jun	Friendlies	Thailand U23 A	5:2	W
6 Jun	Friendlies	Kyrgyz Republic U23 A	1:1	D
3 Jun	Friendlies	Korea Republic U23 A	1:1	D
31 Mar	Friendlies	Oman U23 H	3:1	W
16 Jan	AFC U23 Asian Cup	Vietnam U23 A	2:3	L