What next for the UAE after World Cup exit?

Over a week has passed since the UAE’s hopes of making it to Qatar 2022 were officially extinguished at the hands of Australia. With that exit, the last embers of the country’s second Golden Generation have surely been extinguished too.

As Australian continue to bask in the afterglow of their dramatic and unexpected penalty shootout victory in the resultant match against Peru, a win that secured their place at the global showpiece for the fifth consecutive occasion, the UAE are left to wonder “what if?” as their wait for a second appearance extends from 32 years to at least 36.

Getting so close after so long will hurt for a while. Chances like that are few and far between.

But more pressing than wondering “what if?” should be the question of “what now?” What does the UAE need to do to ensure the wait for a second appearance at the FIFA World Cup doesn’t extend beyond 36 years come the expanded World Cup in 2026?

For the answer they need only look across the border to Saudi Arabia.

Who would have thought only a decade ago that we’d be looking at the Kingdom as the bastion of stability? But under the leadership of Saudi Arabian Football Federation president Yasser Al-Misehal, that is exactly what they have become.

After the disappointment of Russia 2018, and the Asian Cup in the UAE six months later, they encountered a fork in the road. It could have gone either way.

They had a vision and a plan and, in Herve Renard, they found a man they believed could bring it to life. 

Importantly, they didn’t panic when things didn’t start well. When they won only one of their first three qualifiers, drawing with Yemen and Palestine, they kept faith in Renard and the plan, and it was more than rewarded as the Frenchman built