While the 1990 edition in Italy ultimately ended with three defeats from three, a pair of youngsters who would become legendary names in Korean football made their FIFA World Cup debuts with 21-year-olds Hong Myung-bo and Hwang Sun-hong named in Lee Hoe-taik’s squad.

Michel curled home an inch-perfect free-kick just after the hour then jinked his way past the Korean defence with 10 minutes to play to complete a superb hat-trick and a 3-1 win. But with the potential for three teams to qualify for the Round of 16, there remained a glimmer of hope ahead of the final group game against Uruguay.

However, with the game goalless as the clock ticked past 90 minutes and the Taeguk Warriors’ poor goal difference meaning they were effectively eliminated, Daniel Fonseca popped up with a stoppage-time winner to take the Uruguayans through to the knockout stage in dramatic circumstances.

An early exit it may have been, but Hong and Hwang had been given their first taste of FIFA World Cup action. 

They would each go on to make a further three appearances at the global showpiece, culminating in Korea Republic’s historic march to the semi-finals in 2002.

Iran, Kuwait and Iraq had already represented West Asia at the FIFA World Cup over the previous decade, and the likes of Saudi Arabia and Syria were eager to join them in the Asian teams’ roll of honour, but by 1989 it was a nation just entering its 18th year of existence that achieved this feat.

The United Arab Emirates had only been unified as a nation in 1971 and its Football Association joined FIFA the following year. Their first attempt at qualifying to the World Cup came in 1986, and by the second time of asking, they achieved the impossible, bettering the likes of China PR, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to join Korea Republic in Italy 1990.

Having taken them to the Finals, legendary coach Mario Zagallo made way for his compatriot Carlos Alberto Parreira (pictured above, left), who had managed Kuwait in the 1982 edition, to take charge. 

The Whites produced an impressive opening day showing despite the defeat against Carlos Valderrama’s Colombia, losing 2-0 and missing chances left right and centre thanks to a combination of elite Rene Higuita goalkeeping and marginally mishitting shots on goal, including one where Al Talyani missed an undefended goal from inside the area. 

The next game brought about an even more difficult challenge in the form of a West Germany side featuring the likes of Lothar Matthaus, Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann, but it also brought along the high point of the UAE’s World Cup campaign when Khalid Ismaeel pounced on a ball after a West Germany defender misjudged the flight of the ball to allow the UAE to score what at the time was a consolation goal, yet surely a moment of pride for the nation against the would-be world champions.

The final game against Yugoslavia produced another goal, when Ali Thani rose highest to meet a cross, smashing it into the net in what turned out to be their third straight defeat. It was an early exit but a tournament that sealed the names of the 1990 squad as the nation’s “Golden Generation.”