A familiar crunch point awaits for the UAE and their long-held – but, stubbornly unfulfilled - dream of earning a World Cup return.
Hopes bolstered of repeating 1990’s unmatched heroics in 2026 when the Whites opened this third round of qualifying with resounding 3-1 victory at double Asian Cup holders Qatar have receded, with a dispiriting one-point earned from three subsequent run-outs.
Their impending double-header in Abu Dhabi against Kyrgyzstan (Thursday) and Qatar (Tuesday) will decide much for Group A’s third-placed outfit. With a team this mercurial, theUAE could just as easily go past the halfway stage on the heels of automatic entry as be cast asunder.
Last month alone, they were valiant in narrow defeat with 10 men at second-placed Uzbekistan and insipid throughout a stultifying 1-1 home draw against bottom-placed North Korea.
Paulo Bento is the latest incumbent to feel this unique, White-hot heat.
Predecessors Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Edgardo Bauza, Mahdi Ali and others all came up short.What can the former Portugal and South Korea head coach do differently to inspire a contrasting outcome?
“I am confident, because I saw the way that the guys approached the training sessions and their focus,” Bento told reporters on Wednesday at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium.
“This, for me, in this moment is enough. We need to prove this on the pitch.
“I don’t hide my feelings and my thoughts, they know [the players] the way that we approached the game against North Korea and how we are doing now, it is different.”
The gravest challenge for the 55-year-old is to plot a course ahead without star attacker Ali Saleh. Injury for the Al-Wasl talisman robs him of the player who cut Qatar to ribbons as a replacement at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium back in September.
An engine room lacking dynamism without suspended Al-Wahda tyro Abdulla Hamad is fuelled by a recall for Al-Ain’s ceaseless AFC Champions League-holder Mohammed Abbas. Sharjah’s versatile Majid Rashid also comes back into the fold.
This month’s Ligue 1-breakthrough for Montpellier forward Junior Ndiaye – Dubai-born son of prolific former Al-Nasr attacker Samba N’Diaye – has been rewarded with a return. The burgeoning teenager’s potential role ensures an intriguing subplot for challenges ahead.
Another naturalised addition in Fleetwood Town utility player Mackenzie Hunt must kick on after he provided an assist on debut at Qatar. Asian football’s rapid improvement leaves question marks about the lasting impact of someone who regularly sat on the bench for Premier League Everton last term, but is yet to net in 14 League Two run-outs this campaign.
Fabio De Lima’s clean bill of health after October’s enforced absence is another welcome boost. His 12 international goals is three more than any other current squad member (Caio Canedo – nine).
It is this lack of lethality up top that will have caused sleepless nights for Bento.
Only two goals have been netted in three-successive winless home qualifiers, across the second and third rounds.
The UAE are also Group A’s joint-second lowest scorers with four strikes in four matches. A cause for concern when just two points separate the UAE in third and North Korea in sixth.
Baniyas loanee Fahad Bader, Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club winger Harib Abdalla and club-mate Yahya Al-Ghassani have all yet to net in 2024/25 ADNOC Pro League. Last month’s naturalised-debutant Bruno is experiencing his most-productive start to a domestic campaign with four goals in seven top-flight games, but endured a chastening opening to his international career.
Breakout Asian Cup hero Sultan Adil – with six goals in 11 caps, including five competitive efforts – hasn’t kicked a ball in 2024/25.
This crisis has, however, not proven so severe for Bento to turn back the page.
Rapprochement with 85-goal record marksman Ali Mabkhout remained off the agenda, despite the 34-year-old’s revitalised sense of vigour at new employers Al-Nasr sparking five strikes in seven league appearances to comfortably sit as 2024/25’s lead Emirati scorer.
It would appear the final chapter for one of this continent’s great international careers will end with zero minute played at last winter’s Asian Cup.
World Cup 2026’s increase to 48 teams has widened opportunities for the UAE.
2022’s agonising near miss by one-goal in the fourth round to eventual knockout-stage competitors Australia still burns. Too much had been left to do by the third-round’s finale under Bauza in 2018’s cycle.
This edition’s more-forgiving process lavishes further chances in a new-look fourth round – pitting third and fourth-placed finishers against each other – plus dreaded Inter-confederation play-offs, if required.
A ‘Golden Generation’ has now gone for the UAE. Consecutive AFC Player of the Years in the magical Omar Abdulrahman and clutch Ahmed Khalil are fading memories, while Mabkhout is – seemingly – also being consigned to the past.
Bento’s mission is more than just assembling a winning XI on the pitch. It is to inculcatebelief that a less-heralded squad can tread where their garlanded immediate successors could not.
Confidence remains fragile. Wounds from January’s Asian Cup round-of-16 elimination by debutants Tajikistan in a penalty shootout remain fresh.
They were further unpicked by qualifying reversals to Iran and Uzbekistan, strong favourites to wrap up automatic Group A-berths. An inability to defeat unfancied North Korea still stings.
Recent history provides some encouragement, however, that Bento will eventually prove hisworth.
Scathing criticism garnered by quarter-final failure at 2019 Asian Cup transformed into glowing tributes when he departed as South Korea’s longest-serving manager on the back of an encouraging World Cup 2022, containing group-stage victory over his native Portugal.
Another redemption arc will secure Bento a cherished spot in UAE sporting lore.
