“Best performance and worst scenario”.. Goodbye to the dream of the 2026 World Cup

With the best performance and the worst scenario, the national team’s dream of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup has officially ended, for the second time in its history, after the 1990 World Cup, following the painful loss it suffered against its Iraqi counterpart, 1-2, yesterday evening, in the second leg of the Asian play-off match, the most prominent of which was individual errors in the decisive minutes, led by two lapses by midfielder Yahya Nader.

The national team missed a golden opportunity, in the match that was held at Basra Stadium in front of more than 45,000 spectators, after it played one of its most disciplined matches in the qualifiers, as it appeared mentally and physically present from the first moment, despite the enormous public pressure created by supporters of the Iraqi team at Basra International Stadium, surprising the hosts with the clear ability of “Al-Abyad” to impose the style of play and control the rhythm.

The UAE team took the lead through Kayo Lucas (52), but substitute Muhannad Ali (Mimi) equalized for Iraq (66), before substitute Amir Al-Ammari also scored the goal of qualifying for Iraq from a fatal penalty kick in the 90th + 17th minute.

The midfielder, Yahya Nader, wasted “Al-Abyad’s” efforts to join the global playoff qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, after he committed two fatal mistakes that caused the team’s loss.

Yahya Nader was banned when he touched the ball with his hand inside the box, in the counted time instead of stoppage time, so the video technology intervened, and the Japanese referee, Yusuke Araki, approved the count, so that the Mesopotamian Lions could score the victory goal.

Before that, Yahya Nader caused the equalizing goal scored by the “Lions of Mesopotamia,” when “Mimi” rose to a cross and played it with his head, but it collided with his body, changed direction, and went into Khaled Issa’s net, in the first lapses of the Emirati defense in the match.

The first half carried mature signs in the team’s performance, after the players presented a true version in terms of intelligent deployment and perfect reading of spaces, so that the danger of the Iraqi attack disappeared completely, as Khaled Issa did not face any direct threat thanks to the improvement of the back line, especially with the return of Kwame, who restored balance and freed the midfielders to carry out their offensive roles with greater confidence.

As soon as the second half began, “Al-Abyad” was able to translate its advantage into a deserved goal through a perfect start by Caio Lucas inside the Iraqi depths, giving the team a long-awaited lead.

Iraq’s net almost conceded again after Jimenez fired a powerful shot that bounced off the crossbar, wasting the opportunity to consolidate the lead amid the continued “white” superiority.

After this goal, problems appeared again within the ranks of the national team, and our players made many mistakes that caused the loss, including the inability to deal with the crosses from which the two goals came, apart from the mistakes made by Yahya Nader. The physical fitness of the “White” players did not help them to continue at the same level in the critical minutes of the match.