DUBAI March 29, 2025: It takes something extraordinary to outdo the drama of a 98th-minute winner that kept UAE hopes alive for automatic World Cup 2026 qualification.
Less than eight hours after a bandaged Sultan Adil—in only his second appearance of the 2024-25 season—delivered a brave diving header in Riyadh to secure a 2-1 win against bottom-placed North Korea, a tweet revealed the surprising news that Paulo Bento’s tenure had been abruptly terminated.
“The UAE Football Association has decided to dismiss the head coach of the national team, Portuguese Paulo Bento, and his technical staff,” stated @uaefa_ae.
These succinct, emotionless words ended a reign that had begun only in July 2023.
The hard-fought victory at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium left the UAE in third place in Group A of the third round, still four points short of a guaranteed return to football’s grand stage for the first time since 1990 with two matches remaining. Failure to overturn this deficit to second-placed Uzbekistan— their upcoming opponents— in the June deciders means the team might have to progress through up to three additional stages.
The UAE FA’s question was clear: “Is this enough?” Their answer was an unequivocal “no.”
Only time will reveal whether this bold decision, made with considerable merit, was the right one.
It has been determined that the 55-year-old, who became South Korea’s longest-serving manager and led Portugal to the Euro 2012 semifinals, was not the right candidate to achieve this goal. Instead, the UAE will make its ninth permanent appointment since Mahdi Ali’s resignation in March 2017 to pursue this honor.
Bento’s tenure with the Whites produced 14 wins, six draws, and six defeats. The nation has not come this close to a second World Cup appearance in many generations.
He will be remembered for successive blowouts of perennial rivals Qatar and for steering the naturalization revolution, which saw long-serving ADNOC Pro League stars and UAE-born or -raised foreign nationals integrated into the squad.
Less memorable were the 2023 Asian Cup round-of-16 exit on penalties to debutants Tajikistan and this winter’s winless group-stage exit at the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup.
Often, the team’s performances were lackluster, especially following the introduction of call-ups such as Sharjah forward Caio Lucas, club-mate Marcus Meloni, Fleetwood Town’s Mackenzie Hunt, and Al-Ain’s AFC Champions League-winning center-back Kouame Autonne.
This month epitomized the strained relationship between Bento and UAE football.
The 2-0 defeat at Tehran’s intimidating Azadi Stadium against formidable Iran was not disastrous on paper, nor was a spirited late win against an unfancied North Korea.
However, the loss to Iran involved a shift to an unfamiliar 5-4-1 formation, with no preparatory friendlies, benching of four-goal Qatar star Fabio De Lima, and limited training time due to a congested club fixture list; only one shot on target was recorded during a match marred by floodlight issues.
A reversion to the standard 4-2-3-1 against North Korea led to a frustrating display, where 69% possession and a 20-7 attempt ratio still echoed the dreary 1-1 draw against the same opponent in October.
These performances, coupled with the decision to continue sidelining the national team’s record scorer, Ali Mabkhout, and Al-Wasl’s “Golden Boy” Ali Saleh, contributed to the challenges faced.
There remains a void regarding what comes next, as no clear successor has yet emerged. Speculation about external candidates continues, and new names may surface in the coming days and weeks.
The move toward appointing a coach with domestic experience—similar to when Rodolfo Arruabarrena replaced Bert van Marwijk in the previous World Cup cycle—offers several possibilities.
Could Cosmin Olaroiu finally be convinced? His campaign with Sharjah, which might deliver AFC Champions League Two, President’s Cup, and ADNOC Pro League titles, makes this option complex.
Paulo Sousa, who briefly managed Poland internationally and has made an impact at Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club, would likely be reluctant to leave.
Milos Milojevic, who won the President’s Cup and league double with Al-Wasl last season, ending a 17-year wait for local silverware, has faced difficulties in his second season and, at 42, lacks the international exposure that Olaroiu had during the 2015 Asian Cup with Saudi Arabia.
Argentina legend Hernan Crespo, currently unattached after his dismissal from Al-Ain in November, and other former ADNOC Pro League tacticians—such as Kuwait’s Juan Antonio Pizzi (with Al-Wasl), Ukraine’s Serhiy Rebrov (with Al-Ain), and Greece’s Ivan Jovanovic (with Al-Nasr), whose UAE spells were disrupted by the pandemic—are otherwise engaged.
The UAE FA leadership took decisive action on Wednesday. There were no media leaks or rumors about their intentions at any stage, nor were any successors speculated.
This blank slate must be filled well before June, which could yet become a historic moment.