The United Arab Emirates have only qualified for the World Cup once, back in 1990.
Understandable, perhaps, given the UAE as a country was not established until December 1971, with the national team playing its first international four months later.
But the dream of another in 2026 is alive and well.
The side standing at 65th in the FIFA world rankings won their group in the second round of AFC qualifying and finished third – behind Iran and Uzbekistan – in the third round.
In October, they face Qatar and Oman in the fourth round. And whoever tops the three-team mini-group will secure safe passage to next summer’s tournament in the USA.
The team that finishes second still has a chance to earn a place in the inter-confederation play-offs, but that takes the uncertainty to March, and no one wants that.
Not least Mackenzie Hunt.
Hunt played for Fleetwood last term, but has since joined Abu Dhabi-based Baniyas
And if you think that name does not sound typically Emirati, you would be right.
The 23-year-old was born and raised in Liverpool, before his dad secured a job in Dubai and moved his family out to the Middle East in 2008. Living there for seven years meant he qualified for citizenship and, later, earned his first international call-up.
It is a brilliant quirk of his short career to date.
Hunt was on the books of Everton before the move to Dubai, where he played in the Go-Pro Sports academy, run by former Man Utd academy graduate Kirk Hilton. There, he counted Trevor Sinclair’s sons among his team-mates.
“They were probably the most enjoyable years of my life,” Hunt tells Sky Sports.
“I loved growing up over there and the lifestyle. The people you meet over there are from every culture in the world.
“My dad still lives there and I still have loads of friends out there, so it’s almost like home, pretty much. I just regret not learning Arabic properly in school.”
But in 2015, he was back in the UK.
“The academy head of recruitment at Everton, Martin Waldron, always kept in touch with my dad and when I’d come back to England for the summer, I’d train with the squad or the development squad,” he says.
“When I was 13, my mum and I made the decision to move back. I came back to Everton on a six-week trial and then signed from there.
“I was really excited for it because I’d been away from it for so many years.
“It was a change for me in terms of living in a new place, going to a new school and meeting new people. In terms of the football, it was all fresh for me as the standard in Dubai was nowhere near the same level.
“It was just a lot more full-on with the sessions and it was full-time pretty much as soon as I came back; two sessions a day and leaving school early. But it definitely helped me physically and improved me as a player, playing with the better players and being coached by top-level coaches.”
Hunt ended up spending another nine years with the Toffees, in the end.
The campaign that turned out to be his last, 2023/24, was arguably the most valuable: Hunt was named on the first-team bench no fewer that 21 times in all competitions.
“I learned a lot from training with the first team every day and being around them all the time at the training ground,” he adds.
“It was a really good experience learning off top professionals and just watching what they do day in, day out and taking that into my game.
“James Tarkowski and Seamus Coleman were the leaders of the group and they were really good with young lads. They’d always give you some advice or help you out and were really easy to get along with.
“Sean Dyche took to me in that pre-season and it was a shame for me not to make an appearance. But I’m still grateful for everything he did for me in terms of giving me that experience and letting me be around it every day. It was a dream come true, really.
“When I came back we didn’t really know what to expect. We moved back to give it a go with my mum. When we came back there was no plan and it was just a bit of an unknown. So for it all to work out like it did was a dream.”
Even so, Hunt knew he had to move on to further his career. He had not been out on loan before that, so breaking straight into a Premier League team was going to be a monumental task.
And so he was released by the Toffees before signing a two-year deal at League Two side Fleetwood in July 2024. “They were fans of mine for the two years before,” he says.
He marked his first two league games with an assist in each and, on August 30, was called up by UAE boss Paulo Bento.
“They got in touch with my dad at the back end of the last season at Everton,” Hunt explains.
“They’d emailed the club to say that they were interested in me playing for them and to ask if I was interested.
“It was definitely an interesting situation, but it didn’t really take much talk. We just looked at it and thought ‘Why not?’
“My debut was against Qatar [on September 5 2024] so that was a big game for the UAE and I don’t think they’d beat them in a professional competition in nine years.
“I came on late in the game, got an assist and we won 3-1, so that was a really proud moment for me and my family.”
Hunt has nine caps in all now. The most recent came in March, when he came on as a late substitute in a World Cup qualifier in North Korea, but he played in a hybrid match against Lecce in Austria in July.
He is yet to play under Bento’s successor Cosmin Olaroiu, but joined Abu Dhabi-based UAE Pro League side Baniyas for an undisclosed fee on August 10, which will no doubt help his cause.
“I mean, it’s a dream for every young footballer to play in a World Cup, isn’t it? It’s a dream.
“The UAE have only ever qualified once and that was a long time ago, so it’s a big deal and it would be a massive achievement to qualify.
“It would be an absolute dream to represent the UAE in the World Cup.”
