Shattered aspirations of the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification, the UAE football team 2026 will be keen for a new beginning under a new coach after Paulo Bento was discharged on Wednesday. The Portuguese was sacked the morning after his side successfully secured the chance to qualify directly for the World Cup by grabbing victory in a dramatic finish against North Korea in Riyadh.
Sultan Adil struck deep into stoppage time for a 2-1 victory against the North Koreans in a tense encounter as the UAE closed to within four points of second-placed Uzbekistan in Group A ahead of a meeting between the two nations in their penultimate third-round qualifier on June 5.
The top two of three Asian groups in 2026 qualify automatically for finals, but Bento will not be part of the campaign’s conclusion. The UAEFA said in a social media post on Wednesday: “The UAE Football team 2026 Association has decided to terminate the services of Paulo Bento and his assistant land team work.”
Bento, who had taken the UAE football team 2026 to 14 wins, six draws and six losses since he took over in July 2023, also guided Portugal to the semifinals of Euro 2012 and South Korea to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
Long road ahead
So Can the UAE football team 2026 UAE World Cup qualify for the first time since 1990? They can but they must get through the minefield of the Asian World Cup qualifying campaign first. The next Fifa World Cup will feature 48 teams with Asia having eight slots direct. With already secured spot in Group A, the UAE football team 2026 exactly knew that a win over Uzbekistan at home on June 5 and another in the final World Cup qualifier in Kyrgyzstan (June 10) will secure the ticket to the 2026 World Cup for the team as well.
But they also require Uzbekistan to lose their final game that day to Qatar. Should the UAE prevail in those matches in June, however, the Whites would end with 19 points from 10 games and the Uzbekistan side will finish with 17 points in Group A. But if on June 10 Uzbekistan defeat Qatar – on 10 points from eight fixtures – the UAE football team 2026 will finish Group A in third.
Second-place is an automatic qualification spot, while third will earn a ticket into the four-round qualifying but not an automatic qualification spot. The sixth teams will be split into two groups of three each for the fourth round. The top two spots in each group will qualify for the World Cup itself, with group winners securing the final two direct World Cup places for the winners of each group, with the two second-place teams heading for a playoff battle.
The Asian playoff winner will then take part in an inter-confederation playoff tournament with five other nations for the last two berths in the World Cup. That makes for an incredibly difficult path to the UAE football team 2026 and its fans will be hoping that the country’s football federation finds world class coach who is able to lead the squad to the next World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico (June 11-July 19, 2026).