The UAE national team faces a decisive match when it meets its Kuwaiti counterpart on Tuesday in the Arab Cup in the Qatari capital, Doha.
The first group will witness two crucial matches in the third round as Jordan meets Egypt at the same time as the "White" plays the "Blue" team.
"Al-Nashama" secured its qualification and topped the standings with 6 points, while the struggle intensifies between the UAE, Egypt, and Kuwait for the second qualifying card to the quarter-finals of the Arab Cup.
The "White" has more than one chance to advance to the quarterfinals, 24 cases are presented as follows:
The UAE wins over Kuwait by any score and Egypt either draws or loses against Jordan
If the UAE draws with Kuwait and Egypt loses to Jordan by more than one goal
If the UAE draws with Kuwait by more than 2-2 and Egypt loses to Jordan by any score
In turn, a victory for the "Pharaohs" would end the hopes of both the UAE and Kuwait, as the Egyptian team would immediately book its quarter-finals spot.
On the other hand, the group could witness great excitement by resorting to the fair play rule to determine the qualifier to the quarterfinals.
This rule applies in one case, which is if the UAE draws with Kuwait 1-1 and Jordan beats Egypt 2-1.
In that case the points standings would be as follows:
1- Jordan - 9 points
2- Egypt - 2 points (scored 3 conceded 4)
3- UAE - 2 points (scored 3 conceded 4)
4- Kuwait - 2 points (scored 3 conceded 5)
When considering direct encounters between Egypt Kuwait and the UAE, all three teams would be even in every aspect.
When resorting to the most goals scored in the entire group and then the highest goal difference in the entire group, Kuwait would be excluded, continuing the parity between the Egyptian and UAE teams, at which point the fair play rule is invoked.
The Egyptian team leads the UAE after two rounds under the fair play rule as the total for the UAE (9-) from a direct red card (4-) plus 5 yellow cards.
The Egyptian team, on the other hand, has only received three yellow cards (3-).
However, the last scenario, which will not favor the "White," is the parity in the fair play rule. In this case, it will be based on the FIFA world rankings at that time, allowing the Egyptian team, ranked 32 globally, to advance while the UAE is ranked 68.
