UAE vs Nepal Match Analysis & Prediction
16/11/2023 6:45 pm
The United Arab Emirates will kick off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign when the host Nepal at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Thursday.
This week will represent the final set of fixtures for Paulo Bento’s side before the Asian Cup gets underway in January.
Having led Portugal to two major tournament and South Korea to the last 16 in Qatar, Bento is back on the international scene now with the UAE.
The World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams will benefit teams like the UAE more than almost any other nation across the globe, as AFC have seen their allocations of teams rise from four to eight, with the potential of another in an inter-confederation playoff.
AFC have completely revamped the qualification system from Qatar, bu UAE were technically the sixth-best team in Asia in qualifying for 2022, as they lost in a playoff to Australia, who then went into the inter-confederation plaoff.
It is highly unlikely Nepal will make it any further after they surprised Laos in the first stage to make it this far, with Manish Dangi’s solitary goal in the second leg earning them just a seventh World Cup qualifying win in their history last month.
Nepal have dropped down the rankings since they were given a bye into this stage for the 2022 qualifiers, where they beat Chinese Taipei twice, but lost all other six matches.
UAE vs. Nepal Head to head
This will be the first meeting between these two teams.
-
16/11/2023N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
-
16/11/2023N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
-
16/11/2023N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
-
16/11/2023N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
-
16/11/2023UAEN/ANepalN/AAFC World Cup Qualifiers
UAE Team News
The entire UAE squad play in the lucrative Pro League at home, including naturalised Brazilians Caio Canedo and Fabio Lima, who should both start.
Their key player is andoubtedly Al-Jazira’s one-club man Ali Mabkhout, who has scored in his last three club matches and recently reached 250 goals for the club, alongside 81 international goals in 111 caps.
UAE's Last 5 Matches
-
25/03/2023UAE0Tajikistan0Friendlies
-
28/03/2023UAE2Thailand0Friendleis
-
12/09/2023Costa Rica1UAE4Friendleis
-
12/10/2023UAE1Kuwait0Friendleis
-
17/10/2023UAE2Lebanon1Friendlies
Nepal Team News
The vast majority of the Nepal squad play their football domestically, while there are eight uncapped players in the side.
The only exceptions are last month’s match-winner Dangi who plays in Thailand, goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong in India and experienced defender Rohit Chand in Indonesia.
Nepal's Last 5 Matches
-
27/06/2023Nepal1Pakistan0SAFF Championship
-
08/09/2023Myanmar0Nepal0Friendlies
-
11/09/2023Myanmar1Nepal0Friendlies
-
12/10/2023Nepal1Laos1AFC World Cup Qualifiers
-
17/10/2023Laos0Nepal1AFC World Cup Qualifiers
UAE vs. Nepal: Odds and Predictions
Main Prediction
Handicap UAE (-3.5): Yes
Best Odds
1000% Super Multi Bonus
Up to 10 times (1000%) larger winnings on bets placed during Happy Hour
CLAIM BONUS
