[1] Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had been largely friendly football rivals when the two first met in 1972, a year after independence from Britain.

Since then, the rivalry has headed into a more hostile fervor; in 2018 AFC U-19 Championship, captain of the U-19 United Arab Emirates refused to shake hand with the Qatari counterpart, Qatar lost the game 1–2 but eventually qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup while the United Arab Emirates was eliminated instead.

[3] Attempt to separate politics from football proved fruitless, when in 2019 AFC Asian Cup, despite effort to reduce tensions, the United Arab Emirates still banned Qataris from entering the country for the tournament.

[5][6] Further, in the semi-finals game between two countries, Prince Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan decided to buy all the remaining tickets of the match to distribute for home fans, as a way to cheer the spirit of the United Arab Emirates, meaning that Qatar had to face an entirely hostile crowd.

This had generated controversy as the United Arab Emirates were attempting to politicize the match, given the earlier crisis in the relations between two countries.