FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifiers: Top 10 goalscorers

#3 Ahmed Khalil (United Arab Emirates) - 16 goals in 17 matches

UAE's Ahmed Khalil: Fighting a lone battle

The only player from the list who won't feature in the World Cup, Ahmed Khalil's tremendous efforts for the UAE may have blown up in smoke, but he has managed to script a piece of history for himself by finishing as the joint top scorer in the qualifiers. However, it also evinces the Arabians' chronic dependency on one man.

UAE were seriously unlucky to have drawn Saudi Arabia in both rounds, having finished behind them on both occasions, and Khalil was perhaps the sole shining light for them. The fact that The White Jersey had only six different goal-scorers across 18 games shows the dearth of attacking prowess, and the 26-year old did just as much he could to cope with it.

There were moments aplenty when the team fell short of complementing his brilliance, but the best part was that UAE never lost in the second round whenever Khalil scored - winning all the four games in which he weighed in with the crucial strikes, accentuating his instrumentality to the team further.

However, the Middle Eastern side, as a team, left a lot to be desired and fell painfully short against greater challenges such as Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia, thereby undoing all the heroics that Khalil belted out in the final third.