The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from United Arab Emirates

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This page contains a list of the greatest Emirati Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 11 of which were born in United Arab Emirates. This makes United Arab Emirates the birth place of the 94th most number of Soccer Players behind Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Emirati Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Emirati Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Emirati Soccer Players.

Photo of Adnan Al Talyani

1. Adnan Al Talyani (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 48.03, Adnan Al Talyani is the most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Adnan Khamis Mohammed Obaid Al-Talyani Al Suwaidi (Arabic: عدنان خميس محمد عبيد الطلياني السويدي; born 30 October 1964) is a retired footballer from the United Arab Emirates who played as a forward for the UAE Football League club Al Shaab and the United Arab Emirates national team. for which he is regarded one of the best football players in the UAE and considered one of the best goal scorers in the history of the UAE League and the national team.

Photo of Ali Mabkhout

2. Ali Mabkhout (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 39.47, Ali Mabkhout is the 2nd most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Ali Ahmed Mabkhout Mohsen Al Hajeri (Arabic: علي أحمد مبخوت محسن الهاجري; born 5 October 1990) is an Emirati professional association football player who plays as a forward for UAE Pro League club Al-Nasr and the United Arab Emirates national team. Coming through the youth system, Mabkhout made his debut for Al Jazira's first team in 2009.

Photo of Muhsin Musabah

3. Muhsin Musabah (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 39.03, Muhsin Musabah is the 3rd most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Muhsin Musabah Faraj Fairouz (Arabic: محسن مصباح فرج) (born October 1, 1964) is a retired United Arab Emirati footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for the United Arab Emirates national football team as well as the Sharjah Club in Sharjah. Musabah played all of his country's games in qualifying for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and started all three games in the tournament. He was also an important player for his country's run to the final of the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. With over 100 caps to his name, Musabah, who wore the No. 17 jersey throughout his international career, is considered to be the greatest goalkeeper to represent the UAE.

Photo of Ismail Matar

4. Ismail Matar (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 38.95, Ismail Matar is the 4th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ismail Matar Ibrahim Khamis Al Mukhaini Al Junaibi (Arabic: إسماعيل مطر; born 7 April 1983 in Abu Dhabi) is an Emirati former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Matar was awarded the Golden Ball at the 2003 World Youth Championships after being voted the tournament's best player even though the UAE only reached the quarter finals. He is best known for leading the UAE to their first ever trophy, which was held in Abu Dhabi in 2007. Matar scored 5 goals in 5 games, and was named player of the tournament and the top scorer.

Photo of Ahmed Khalil

5. Ahmed Khalil (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 34.98, Ahmed Khalil is the 5th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Ahmed Khalil Sebait Mubarak Al-Junaibi (Arabic: أحمد خليل سبيت مبارك الجنيبي; born 8 June 1991) is an Emirati footballer who plays as a forward for Al Bataeh and United Arab Emirates national team. In 2006, Ahmed won the 2006 GCC U-17 Championship with UAE U17, in which he was top scorer with five goals. Later in the same years, he joined the first team. The following season with Al-Ahli, Ahmed won his first club honour, the President Cup, and was the top scorer with four goals. In 2008, Ahmed won Super Cup and his first Pro-League 2008–09, and with UAE U20 won the AFC U-19 Championship 2008, and was named player of the tournament and the top scorer with four goals. He was named the most promising Arab Player of the Year by Al-Ahram and Al Hadath magazines and also Asian Young Footballer of the Year. In 2009, Ahmed led UAE U20 to the Quarter-finals in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and scored two goals in the tournament, and was named for the second consecutive time Al-Ahram Most promising Arab player of the Year and nominee of the Asian Young Footballer of the Year for two times. In 2010, Ahmed continued his outstanding performance, by leading UAE Olympic football team. to win the 2010 GCC U-23 Championship by scoring five goals in the tournament and win the top scorer, and for the first ever football silver medal in UAE history at the Asian Games and scored three goals in the tournament. He was named the Best Young Athlete Player of the Year by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award. Ahmed won the Asian Footballer of the Year in 2015 after leading his club to the final of the AFC Champions League and UAE to the third-place in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Photo of Ismail Al Hammadi

6. Ismail Al Hammadi (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 33.22, Ismail Al Hammadi is the 6th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ismail Al Hammed (Arabic: إسماعيل الحمادي; born 1 July 1988) is an Emirati footballer. He currently plays for Al-Hamriyah and for United Arab Emirates national football team and represented them at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Walid Abbas

7. Walid Abbas (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 32.87, Walid Abbas is the 7th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Walid Abbas Murad Yousuf Al-Balushi (Arabic: وَلِيْد عَبَّاس مُرَاد يُوسُف; born 11 June 1985) is an Emirati professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Shabab Al-Ahli.

Photo of Khalid Eisa

8. Khalid Eisa (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 32.50, Khalid Eisa is the 8th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Khalid Eisa Mohammed Bilal Saeed Al Mesmari (Arabic: خَالِد عِيْسى مُحَمَّد بِلَال سَعِيْد الْمِسْمَارِيّ; born 15 September 1989) is an Emirati professional association football goalkeeper who plays for Emirati club Al Ain and the United Arab Emirates national team. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.

Photo of Ali Khasif

9. Ali Khasif (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 31.98, Ali Khasif is the 9th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Ali Khaseif Humad Khaseif Housani, known as Ali Khasif (Arabic: علي خصيف; born 9 June 1987 in Abu Dhabi) is an Emirati professional footballer who plays for Al-Jazira as a goalkeeper.

Photo of Theyab Awana

10. Theyab Awana (1990 - 2011)

With an HPI of 30.77, Theyab Awana is the 10th most famous Emirati Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Theyab Awana Ahmed Husain Al Messabi (Arabic: ذياب عوانة أحمد حسين المصعبي; 8 April 1990 – 25 September 2011) was an Emirati professional footballer who played as a winger for UAE Pro League club Baniyas and the United Arab Emirates national team. His playing style and ability drew comparisons to former Emirati international Zuhair Bakhit.

People

Pantheon has 19 people classified as Emirati soccer players born between 1964 and 1995. Of these 19, 18 (94.74%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Emirati soccer players include Adnan Al Talyani, Ali Mabkhout, and Muhsin Musabah. The most famous deceased Emirati soccer players include Theyab Awana. As of April 2024, 8 new Emirati soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Muhsin Musabah, Walid Abbas, and Hamdan Al-Kamali.

Living Emirati Soccer Players

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Deceased Emirati Soccer Players

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Newly Added Emirati Soccer Players (2024)

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