United Arab Emirates took fourth place in the 1992 AFC Asian Cup and runner-up in 1996 as host.

The first match of the team was played on 17 March 1972 against Qatar at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium and won with the only goal scored by Ahmed Chowbi.

After participating in four Gulf Cup tournaments since 1972, United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted the 1982 edition.

United Arab Emirates appeared in the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup after being awarded a spot because Saudi Arabia was hosting the games.

At this time, United Arab Emirates appointed world class coaches like Carlos Queiroz, Roy Hodgson and Dick Advocaat.

At the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, United Arab Emirates defeated Qatar 4–1 and Bahrain 2–1 and lost to Iran by a goal.

As group runner-up, it faced the defending champions Japan in the quarter-final and earned a victory on penalties to advance to the last four.

United Arab Emirates joined the second round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers and was placed with all-out Southeast Asian opponents.

Bert was sacked after his start undergoing two away losses to Thailand and Vietnam in the qualifiers along his group stage exit in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup.

[7] After this, the Emirates decided to naturalize Argentine Sebastián Tagliabúe, Brazilian Caio Canedo Corrêa and Fábio Virginio de Lima, the three South American players, having never done so since the foundation of the national team.

With the COVID-19 pandemic however, the AFC decided the remaining games of the second round would be played in one country,[9][10] and with the UAE chosen to host Group G, they were able to utilize the home-field advantage as the host nation, ultimately u-turned the earlier misery into four consecutive wins to break through into the third round, where they faced its neighbours and the powerhouses Iran and South Korea.

[11] In the third round, the UAE failed to produce a promising performance after winning just one out of six first games, a 1–0 away win over Lebanon, drew three and lost two, adding with the UAE's below average performance in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup despite reaching the quarter-finals, that was enough to sack the Dutch manager van Marwijk yet again.

[12][13][14] After inconsistency in performance, the UAE appointed Argentine manager Rodolfo Arruabarrena as coach, and the team's result improved, winning two out of four games, notably an impressive 1–0 home win over already-qualified South Korea, to reach the fourth round, increased hope for the country to qualify for the first-ever World Cup since 1990, where they would face the old foe Australia, whom the UAE defeated in the latest meeting.

[15] However, the UAE was unable to utilise their geographical advantage in the playoff in neighbouring Qatar, losing 1–2 to Australia by a thunderous strike at 84' by Ajdin Hrustic to deny the UAE's its potential second appearance; they later stunned South America's rising power Peru to qualify for the edition.

[19] Another major rival the UAE takes on Arabian Gulf Cup many times, the two teams have met in the AFC Asian Cup twice, first in the semi-finals of the 1992 edition which ended in a Saudi victory and second in the final of the 1996 edition in which UAE hosted, the game ended in a goalless draw which meant the game had to be decided in penalties, the game ended with Saudi Arabia taking home their 3rd title with the penalty scoreline being 4–2, this remains the only time the Emirates qualified for the final meanwhile this would also be the last time the Saudis would win an Asian Cup as they would lose the next two finals they qualified for in 2000 and 2007.