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

Despite the team’s continuing efforts to qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup by defeating North Korea 2-1, the United Arab Emirates football association fired coach Paulo Bento on Wednesday.

The UAE Football Association announced that Paulo Bento, the national team’s head coach, and his coaching staff would be fired.

A replacement is anticipated to be named soon to lead the team in official competitions like Group A 2026, it continued.

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His replacement will lead the team in the World Cup qualifiers’ two matches against second-placed Kyrgyzstan on June 5 and second-placed Uzbekistan on June 10 in the final match.

Their hopes of making it to the finals would rekindle if they defeated Uzbekistan.

The Uzbeks, who are seeking their first-ever quadrennial showpiece appearance, are four points clear of them.

Bento, 55, was hired in July 2023, but he has overseen a number of inconsistent results in the qualifiers, including a 2-0 defeat to Iran on Thursday in Tehran.

After his team’s eighth-minute injury time victory over North Korea on Tuesday, the former Portugal and South Korea coach faced further criticism.

Iran qualified on Tuesday, ranking third overall with 13 points, while the UAE are third.

The top two teams advance to the next round of qualifying, with third and fourth places awarded to the top three Asian teams.

Source: Channels TV