UAE vs Iraq Prediction, 11:00 p.m. November 13: Tug of war in Dubai

TPO - Football analysis UAE vs Iraq, 2026 World Cup qualifiers - Team information, expected lineup, form, head-to-head history. UAE has home field advantage in the first leg of the play-off, but it will not be easy for them to achieve their goal against a very difficult Iraq.

Comments before the match UAE vs Iraq

The UAE team caused mixed emotions in the last qualifying campaign. In the third qualifying round, they only ranked 3rd with 15 points, behind Iran and Uzbekistan. Actually, the fact that UAE was behind these two names is not surprising because their strength is weaker. But on that journey, they changed 2 coaches, causing the gameplay to be interrupted.

The latest man to take charge of the team, Cosmin Olaroiu, is actually not doing any better than his two colleagues who have just lost their jobs. He could not help the team explode in the 4th qualifying round. They beat Oman 2-1, but lost to neighboring Qatar by the same score in the decisive match, thereby only being able to keep the hope of going on to the AFC play-offs and then the Intercontinental play-offs.

Iraq, in fact, went on a similar journey. They finished second with just 16 points and also sacked their coach during the campaign. Jesus Casas, who led Iraq for three years from 2022 to 2025, lost his job due to poor form.

Iraq have been on their worst run of form in three years under the Spaniard. They have not won any of their last five matches, including two defeats in the Gulf Cup and three in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Form, history of confrontations between UAE and Iraq

Poor form caused them to lose their advantage when from 2nd place, this team fell to 3rd place on the rankings and faced the risk of not being able to get a direct ticket to the United States and Mexico.

Iraq played explosively in the first leg of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but continuously lost points in the second leg, causing them to lose their official spot and could only continue to the 4th qualifying round. Here, they narrowly defeated Indonesia, drew with Saudi Arabia before accepting 2nd place due to inferior sub-index.

Today, the two teams UAE and Iraq will have to "fight to the death" for the last place in Asia. Both have their own strengths. UAE has won 4 out of the last 5 matches, showing stable performance. But the problem is that UAE's defense still has many limitations. This team pursues a liberal playing style, so if they score a lot, they also concede a lot. Iraq has a better defense. But the limitation in scoring goals makes it difficult for them to achieve optimal results.

Today, as the away team, Iraq will probably have to invest more in defense. Therefore, a tight, tense match is an easy scenario to imagine.

Expected lineup UAE vs Iraq

UAE : Essa - Ruben Canedo, Otonne, Lucas Pimenta, Marcus Meloni - Al-Ghassani, Jimenez, Ramadan, Hassan, Fabio Lima - Caio

Iraq : Hassan - Doski, Sulaka, Younes, Ali - Baesh, Al-Ammari, Iqbal, Amin - Ali, Yakob

Score prediction: UAE 1-1 Iraq

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhan-dinh-uae-vs-iraq-23h00-ngay-1311-giang-co-o-dubai-post1795895.tpo