United Arab Emirates men's national basketball team

United Arab Emirates
FIBA ranking	103 13 (15 September 2023)
Joined FIBA	1976
FIBA zone	FIBA Asia
National federation	United Arab Emirates Basketball Association
Coach	Mounir Ben Slimane
Nickname(s)	Al Abyad (The White One); Eyal Zayed (Sons of Zayed)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
FIBA Asia Cup
Appearances	8
Medals	None
Asian Games
Appearances	7
Medals	None
Home	Away
First international
	United Arab Emirates 121–44 North Yemen ; (New Delhi, India; 20 November 1982)
Biggest win
	United Arab Emirates 121–44 North Yemen ; (New Delhi, India; 20 November 1982)
Biggest defeat
	Lebanon 108–38 United Arab Emirates ; (Tianjin, China; 7 August 2009)

The United Arab Emirates men's national basketball team (Arabic: منتخب الإمارات العربية المتحدة لكرة السلة) represents the United Arab Emirates in international basketball. They are controlled by the United Arab Emirates Basketball Association.

The UAE made its debut in international competition at the 1982 Asian Games. Furthermore, the national team has qualified to the FIBA Asia Cup eight times, with their best result coming in 1997, where they finished fifth. The UAE has also competed at the Arab Nations Cup muiltiple times, where they had their top performance in 1997, winning bronze.

History

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.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

World Cup					Qualification
Year	Position	Pld	W	L	Yr	Pld	W	L
1950 to 1970	Part of United Kingdom				Part of United Kingdom
1974	Not a FIBA member				Not a FIBA member
1978	Did not enter				Did not enter
1982
1986
1990
1994	Did not qualify				FIBA Asia Cup served as qualifiers
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2019	Did not enter				Did not enter
2023	Did not enter				Did not enter
2027	To be determined				To be determined
Total	0/12

Asian Games

Asian Games
Year	Position	Pld	W	L
1951 to 1970	Part of United Kingdom
1974	Not an IOC member
1978	Not an IOC member
1982	11th	6	2	4
1986	Did not enter
1990	6th	5	1	4
1994	9th	4	0	4
1998	8th	6	1	5
2002	11th	5	1	4
2006	13th	2	1	1
2010	Did not enter
2014
2018
2022	13th	3	0	3
Total	7/11	31	6	25

FIBA Asia Cup

Asia Cup					Qualification
Year	Position	Pld	W	L	Yr	Pld	W	L
1960 to 1971	Part of United Kingdom				Part of United Kingdom
1973	Not a FIBA Asia member				Not a FIBA Asia member
1975	Not a FIBA Asia member				Not a FIBA Asia member
1977	Did not enter				No qualifiers were held
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993	8th	6	2	4	Direct qualification
1995	9th	7	5	2
1997	5th	7	4	3
1999	10th	7	4	3
2001	10th	6	3	3
2003	Did not enter				Withdrew
2005	Did not qualify				2005	5	1	4
2007	16th	7	1	6	2007	5	3	2
2009	12th	8	1	7	2009	4	2	2
2011	10th	8	2	6	2011	3	1	2
2013	Did not qualify				2013	4	1	3
2015					2015	5	1	4
2017					2017	4	2	2
2022					2022	6	3	3
2025	To be determined				2025	In progress
Total	8/22	56	22	34		36	14	22

Results and fixtures

Win Loss

2023

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

2024

23 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers	Bahrain	vs.	United Arab Emirates	Manama, Bahrain
19:00 (UTC+3)
		Boxscore		Arena: Khalifa Sports City Stadium

26 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers	United Arab Emirates	vs.	Syria	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
19:00 (UTC+4)
		Boxscore		Arena: Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Sports Hall

22 November 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers	Lebanon	vs.	United Arab Emirates	Lebanon

		Boxscore

25 November 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers	United Arab Emirates	vs.	Bahrain	United Arab Emirates

		Boxscore

2025

21 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers	Syria	vs.	United Arab Emirates	Syria

		Boxscore

24 February 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers	United Arab Emirates	vs.	Lebanon	United Arab Emirates

		Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers matches in February 2023 against Kuwait, Iraq and Palestine.^[7]

United Arab Emirates men's national basketball team roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Age – Date of birth	Height	Club
PG	0	Rashed Mohammad	25 – (1998-02-12)12 February 1998	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Al-Nasr
C	2	Ahmed Albreiki	28 – (1994-10-30)30 October 1994	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Shabab Al Ahli
PG	3	Hamid Albreiki	22 – (2000-12-16)16 December 2000	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Shabab Al Ahli
G/F	6	Rashed Alnuaimi	32 – (1991-02-14)14 February 1991	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Al-Nasr
G/F	8	Faisal Mohammad	25 – (1997-10-19)19 October 1997	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Al-Nasr
G	9	Hassn Hussein	22 – (2000-05-15)15 May 2000	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Al-Nasr
F	10	Omer Alameri	31 – (1991-11-18)18 November 1991	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	Sharjah
SG	11	Rashed Alzaabi	34 – (1988-10-19)19 October 1988	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Sharjah
F/C	13	Madiagne Ndiaye	30 – (1993-02-14)14 February 1993	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	Al-Nasr
C	15	Jasim Abdalla (C)	34 – (1988-11-24)24 November 1988	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	Sharjah
C	23	Qais Alshabebi	31 – (1991-10-31)31 October 1991	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Shabab Al Ahli
F	24	Mahmoud Alsawan	22 – (2000-09-17)17 September 2000	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Sharjah

Head coach

Mounir Ben Slimane

Assistant coach(es)

Jassim Alblooshi
Salem Aldhaheri

Legend

(C) Team captain
Club – describes last
club before the competition
Age – describes age
on 20 February 2023

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Qais Alshabebi	Jasim Abdalla
PF	Madiagne Ndiaye	Ahmed Albreiki	Mahmoud Alsawan
SF	Omer Alameri	Faisal Mohammad
SG	Hassn Hussein	Rashed Alnuaimi
PG	Rashed Alzaabi	Hamid Albreiki	Rashed Mohammad

Head coach position

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

Past rosters

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

United Arab Emirates men's national basketball team – 2011 FIBA Asia Cup roster