The opportunity for the UAE national team to qualify for the World Cup was “on a golden platter.”

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Vice President of the UAE Olympic Committee and Head of the Municipality and Planning Department in Ajman, confirmed that the national team has gone through a major work phase over the past years to rebuild and enhance its technical capabilities, pointing out that the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup was “on a plate of gold” and was very close, but a group of factors prevented achieving this goal, stressing at the same time that developing the team requires expanding the player base and taking advantage of all available human resources.

This came during the closing session of the Rashid bin Humaid Ramadan Council for the year 2026, which was devoted to discussing the reality of sports in the UAE, and was held under the patronage and presence of Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, and with the participation of officials, athletes, and those interested in sports affairs.

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid said: “There have been great efforts made with the national team over the past years in order to develop it and raise its technical level, and there has been clear work to bring in technical competencies capable of supporting the national team and adding the necessary expertise to its career.”

He added: “I was one of the people who demanded that there be a greater role for resident players, because this category was not sufficiently exploited in the past, even though it represents an important human resource that can add a lot to football in the country.”

He continued: “There is no country in the world that does not benefit from most of its population in supporting football, especially when they constitute a large percentage that can be relied upon as a permanent human resource to develop the game and expand the talent base.”

He said: “Many elements entered the team and needed more time for harmony. We played strong and excellent matches, and some matches in which our mistakes were clear, but every match was a lesson that we benefited from and we are working to not repeat the mistakes.”

He stressed that clubs have a pivotal role in developing the level of the national team, explaining that the player spends more than 70% of his time during the season with his club, while he spends the remaining time with the national team, which makes clubs a major partner in preparing players and refining their abilities.

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid spoke about the Romanian national team coach, Cosmin, stressing that he is a coach with a strong training history and great experience.

He said: “Kuzmin is a coach with a strong history and biography, and his achievements are well-known, and his selection to lead the team at this stage was successful, because training does not depend only on the technical aspect, but also includes the psychological aspect.”

He added: “The coach is close to the players and is distinguished by his ability to motivate them, but from a technical standpoint he faced difficulties due to the entry of many elements into the team, and therefore he tried to present more than one formation during the past matches.”

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid touched on the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, stressing that it was very close to the national team.
Rashid bin Humaid added: “The opportunity to qualify for the World Cup was on a silver platter, but the deciding match was played with administrative intelligence more than as a psychological confrontation on the field. There was not complete justice in choosing the location of the match and distributing the crowd ratio, because the deciding matches in the past were held either on a neutral stadium or in a home-and-away system, but what happened was different.”

He said: “The individual technical level of the players has improved compared to previous years, and today we have a substitute bench that includes a good number of players after years during which the technical staff complained about the lack of options. We worked during the last period to expand the base of registered players in the country, and today the number has reached between 7,000 and 7,500 players, and as this number increases in the future, the national teams will be given greater options when selecting players.”

He continued: “If the number of players reaches 15,000 players, the options will be doubled, especially with the presence of Emirati players who play professionally in European clubs, which will give the team greater experience and contact.”

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid spoke about the file of contracts for national players, stressing that the national player in the UAE is lucky and not oppressed.

He said: “The sums that the citizen player receives in Emirati clubs, there is no club in the world that is willing to pay him, and therefore it can be said that the club is the oppressed, and it is the injured party. In the past, the club was forced to pay these sums to obtain the citizen player, but with the increase in options with the presence of foreign and resident players, the prices have become more balanced.”

He continued: “It is important to me that we have between 35 and 40 of the best players who will be key players in their clubs, because the player who participates constantly is the most capable of serving the national team.”

Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid concluded his speech by saying: “In the world of professionalism, it is natural to benefit from the resources available in the country, and the most important thing for me is the player who has the technical level and experience capable of serving the team and achieving achievements.”