Overview
- The UAE and Iraq drew 1–1 in the World Cup playoff first leg at Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, with more than 35,000 in attendance and 2,134 tickets allocated to Iraq fans.
- Coach Cosmin Olaroiu said the UAE still has a path to advance and called the Basra return match decisive after a disallowed goal and a non-awarded penalty were points of contention.
- Elsewhere in World Cup qualifying, France, Spain and Portugal have chances to clinch spots in upcoming matches, while Italy’s route depends on Norway’s results and a significant goal-difference gap.
- Dubai launched the Sports Plan 2033 to lift the sector’s annual GDP contribution from AED 10.17 billion to AED 18.3 billion, grow sports participation to 2.6 million, and expand major-event attendance to 4.1 million through 19 programs and 75 initiatives across 17 priority sports.
- Emirates Health Services rolled out "Journey Without Bureaucracy" upgrades including sub–five-minute one-step registration via UAE Pass, a unified digital health record, and cutting diagnostic visits for osteoporosis and breast cancer screening from five to one.