UAE Sack Paulo Bento Despite World Cup Qualifier Win Over North Korea

The United Arab Emirates football association fired coach Paulo Bento on Wednesday, despite the team keeping their hopes alive of qualifying automatically for the 2026 World Cup by edging North Korea 2-1.

“The UAE Football Association has decided to dismiss the head coach of the national team, Paulo Bento, along with his coaching staff,” the association said.

“A replacement is expected to be named soon to lead the team in the Group A 2026 World Cup qualifiers and other official competitions,” it added.

His replacement will coach the team in the two final matches of the World Cup qualifiers against second-placed Uzbekistan on June 5 and second from bottom Kyrgyzstan on June 10.

A win over Uzbekistan would reignite their hopes of reaching the finals.

They are four points adrift of the Uzbeks, who are seeking to reach football’s quadrennial showpiece for the first time.

Bento, 55, was appointed to his position in July 2023, but has overseen a series of inconsistent results in the qualifiers, including a 2-0 loss to Iran in Tehran last Thursday.

The former Portugal and South Korea head coach faced further criticism after his team only beat North Korea in the eighth minute of injury time on Tuesday.

The UAE are third in the group with 13 points — table-topping Iran qualified on Tuesday.

The top two qualify directly for the World Cup, with teams finishing third and fourth in the three Asian groups entering a further round of qualifying.

AFP