United Arab Emirates men's national basketball team

The United Arab Emirates played in their first international match at the 1982 Asian Games. The group stage fixture win against North Yemen, was one of only two victories for the team against four losses during the event; which saw the team miss out on making it to the medal round. After the tournament, the team would not appear at an international competition until the 1990 Asian Games, where the team would only achieve modest results.

Three years later, the United Arab Emirates made their debut at the top continental competition, the 1993 FIBA Asia Cup. Placed into Group B during the preliminary phase, the UAE won two out of their three matches for a record of (2–1) to advance into the quarter-finals. However, the UAE would lose a narrowly contested match against Iran 73–77, to relegate the team to the classification rounds to finish out the tournament.[2] After nearly reaching the semi-finals at the first FIBA Asia Cup tournament the UAE took part in, the team was back at the next edition of the event in 1995. Stationed in Group B once again, the UAE, however, would only win one of their preliminary phase matches; which came against the Philippines 70–56, to be sent to the classification stages for the second straight tournament.[3] There, the team would pickup four more victories to close out the competition in ninth place.[4]

Behind subpar performances at their first two FIBA Asia Cup competitions, the United Arab Emirates entered the tournament in 1997, determined to gain better results. After completely dominating India, and Bangladesh in their first two preliminary phase matches, the team fell in a close defeat to South Korea 73–72. Although with the two wins, the team automatically advanced into the quarter-final round. Entering the phase, the UAE would only prevail in one of their three matches, a 77–59 win against Jordan.[5] The loss for the team would send them into the classification fifth place game, where they would earn one more victory to end the competition.[6] After the tournament, the UAE would make the competition five more times over the next 14 years through the 2011 edition, accumulating only disappointing outcomes.

  Win   Loss

2023

United Arab Emirates  v  Kuwait

20 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup pre-qualifiers – 2nd round	United Arab Emirates	68–67	Kuwait	Doha, Qatar* [note 1]
14:00 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 16–25, 15–18, 18–11, 19–13
	Pts: Alshabebi 25 Rebs: Alshabebi 11 Asts: H. Albreiki 6	Boxscore	Pts: Alghais 17 Rebs: Alhadhoud 8 Asts: H. Hasan 5	Arena: Lusail Multipurpose Hall Referees: Yevgeniy Mikheyev (KAZ), Wissam Zein (SYR), Nattapong Jontapa (THA)

Iraq  v  United Arab Emirates

21 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup pre-qualifiers – 2nd round	Iraq	82–74	United Arab Emirates	Doha, Qatar* [note 1]
16:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 27–13, 14–25, 17–17, 24–19
	Pts: Al-Zuhairi 20 Rebs: Al-Zuhairi 15 Asts: Mayfield 9	Boxscore	Pts: Alshabebi 24 Rebs: A. Albreiki, Alshabebi 11 Asts: Hussein 6	Arena: Lusail Multipurpose Hall Referees: Rabah Noujaim (LBN), Wissam Zein (SYR), Hadi Salem (IRN)

Palestine  v  United Arab Emirates

22 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup pre-qualifiers – 2nd round	Palestine	51–74	United Arab Emirates	Doha, Qatar* [note 1]
16:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 17–13, 17–25, 9–14, 8–22
	Pts: Mayali 19 Rebs: Osayande 14 Asts: Osayande 3	Boxscore	Pts: Alshabebi 18 Rebs: Alshabebi 9 Asts: Alshabebi, Alzaabi 3	Arena: Lusail Multipurpose Hall Referees: Rabah Noujaim (IRN), Mohamed Alsalam (BHR), Hadi Salem (IRN)

Iran  v  United Arab Emirates

26 September 2022 Asian Games – Group stage	Iran	81–57	United Arab Emirates	Hangzhou, China
11:00 (UTC+8)	Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 18–20, 22–9, 18–4
	Pts: Rezaeifar 19 Rebs: Mirzaei 11 Asts: Rezaeifar 4	Boxscore	Pts: Q. Alshabebi 23 Rebs: Q. Alshabebi 9 Asts: Alzaabi, Mohammad 3	Arena: Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Center Referees: Yuen Chun Yip (HKG), Preeda Muongmee (THA), John Lester Celeste (PHI)

United Arab Emirates  v  Kazakhstan

28 September 2022 Asian Games – Group stage	United Arab Emirates	49–59	Kazakhstan	Hangzhou, China
17:30 (UTC+8)	Scoring by quarter: 14–16, 14–14, 15–14, 6–15
	Pts: Q. Alshabebi 14 Rebs: Alameri 9 Asts: Alameri, H. Albreiki 2	Boxscore	Pts: Marchuk 14 Rebs: Bykov, Pan 10 Asts: Kuanov 8	Arena: Zhejiang University Zijingang Gymnasium Referees: Harja Jaladri (IDN), Kim Bo-hui (KOR), John Lester Celeste (PHI)

Saudi Arabia  v  United Arab Emirates

30 September 2022 Asian Games – Group stage	Saudi Arabia	74–67	United Arab Emirates	Hangzhou, China
13:30 (UTC+8)	Scoring by quarter: 20–26, 26–16, 14–20, 14–5
	Pts: Alsuwailem 22 Rebs: Alsuwailem 12 Asts: Alsuwailem 6	Boxscore	Pts: Alzaabi 16 Rebs: Alzaabi 7 Asts: Alzaabi 5	Arena: Zhejiang University Zijingang Gymnasium Referees: Preeda Muongmee (THA), Ahmed Alyousef (JOR), Tee Yong Sern (MAS)

• Mounir Ben Slimane – (2005–2009)
• Zoran Zubčević – (2010–2015)
• Mounir Ben Slimane – (2016–present)

2011 FIBA Asia Cup: finished 10th among 16 teams[8]

United Arab Emirates men's national basketball team – 2011 FIBA Asia Cup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 4 Jassim Haji 30 – (1981-03-22)22 March 1981 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Shabab Al Ahli SG 5 Mohamed Albreiki 19 – (1991-12-21)21 December 1991 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Shabab Al Ahli G/F 6 Ibrahim Ahmad 28 – (1983-09-12)12 September 1983 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Al Wasl G 7 Ibrahim Alsari 31 – (1980-07-04)4 July 1980 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Al Nasr PG 8 Hussain Ahmed 22 – (1989-03-06)6 March 1989 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Shabab Al Ahli PG 9 Khalifa Salem 20 – (1991-08-25)25 August 1991 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Shabab Al Ahli F 10 Rashid Alali 21 – (1990-04-03)3 April 1990 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Sharjah G 11 Rashed Alzaabi 22 – (1988-10-19)19 October 1988 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Al Wasl F/C 12 Qais Alshabebi 19 – (1991-10-31)31 October 1991 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Shabab Al Ahli F 13 Malallah Banihammad 28 – (1983-06-18)18 June 1983 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Sharjah C 14 Ali Al Hattawi 31 – (1979-11-20)20 November 1979 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Shabab Al Ahli C 15 Jasim Abdalla 22 – (1988-11-24)24 November 1988 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Sharjah	Head coach Zoran Zubčević Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 24 September 2011

• Sport in United Arab Emirates
• United Arab Emirates men's national under-18 basketball team
• United Arab Emirates men's national under-17 basketball team
• UAE National Basketball League

• Official website (in Arabic)
• UAE FIBA profile
• UAE National Team – Men at Asia-basket.com
• UAE Basketball Records at FIBA Archive