New Zealand's World Cup hopes took a dive with a lacklustre and disorganised performance in their 2-0 loss to the United Arab Emirates at the four-nation OSN Cup final in Riyadh.

New Zealand were outpaced and outplayed, unable to finish the few chances they created as the UAE punched home a goal in each half to secure the win on Tuesday (AEST).

The match ended on a sour note with substitute Ben Sigmund red-carded for stamping on UAE forward Ali Mabkhout in the 90th minute.

Coach Ricki Herbert was lacking key players with Marco Rojas, Shane Smeltz, Dan Keat and Tim Payne out injured, and midfielder Michael McGlinchey unavailable as he awaits the birth of his first child.

But even given those constraints, there were few positives he could take from the match, a key part of New Zealand's build-up to a World Cup home-and-away qualifier against Concacaf opponents in November.