World Asia Preview: The UAE home team is locked in a tough match with Iraq, with both teams vying for the upper hand.
6686 Sports reported on November 13 that in the first round of the Asian playoffs of the World Cup preliminaries, the United Arab Emirates faced Iraq at the home team. The two teams have met in three consecutive World Cup preliminaries. The UAE's home team has a brilliant record in this World Cup preliminaries, while Iraq's performance as a guest is also quite eye-catching. In this campaign, they strive to gain the upper hand and enter the second round.
The UAE’s current training roster is led by veteran player Khalid Issa. Issa has played 92 times for the UAE and is also the team’s captain and spiritual leader. However, both Gassani and Adil are currently injured, and it is still unknown whether they can play in the first round. In addition, Fabio Lima is also unable to play. Iraq's roster is led by Ayman Hussein, who has played 89 times for the team and has scored 32 goals. He is an important guarantee for the team's offensive end, but the absence of Yusuf Amin has a huge impact.
The UAE is currently ranked 67th in the world, while Iraq is ranked ahead of the UAE and is currently ranked 57th. The two teams met in the last World Cup preliminaries, and Iraq remained unbeaten with 1 win and 1 draw. However, in the past 10 matches between the two sides, the UAE had the upper hand with 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. Among them, the 2017 friendly match and the 2016 World Cup qualifiers, the UAE played as the home team and won both games.
In the last 14 games of this World Cup preliminaries, the UAE has achieved a record of 6 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. It defeated Oman in the previous stage, but lost to Qatar and could only enter the play-offs. In this World Cup preliminaries, the UAE has achieved a record of 4 wins, 3 draws and only 1 loss in the home team. The only loss was a 0-1 loss to Iran, which has already qualified for the World Cup. Including facing Bahrain, Qatar, and Uzbekistan, the UAE has not lost at home.
In the past 15 World Cup preliminaries, Iraq has achieved a record of 8 wins, 4 draws and only 3 losses. In the last period, it defeated Indonesia 1-0 and drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia, but it was a pity that it entered the play-offs. In the actual 9 away team games in this World Cup preliminaries, Iraq achieved a record of 6 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss. The only loss was a 2-3 loss to South Korea. In the last 4 away team games in the World Cup preliminaries, Iraq achieved an unbeaten record of 3 wins and 1 tie.
The two teams met again after three years. Judging from the situation in this World Cup preliminaries, the UAE’s home team has a very obvious field advantage. In the two rounds of the showdown, they strive to use the home team’s field advantage to gain the upper hand. For Iraq, the performance of the away team in this World Cup preliminaries is better than that at the home team or neutral venues. In the past two visits to the United Arab Emirates, they have not lost, and they strive to get a draw or even win to enter the second round.
