Ali Mabkhout hits double as UAE beat Nepal and start World Cup campaign with routine win

If this was still a way short of “Bento Ball”, and understandably so, then it wasn’t the worst of starts, either, for the UAE's newest manager.

Paulo Bento had already seemingly settled in all right to his latest surroundings, with three wins from three friendlies since his July appointment. Coming against Costa Rica, Kuwait and Lebanon, they hinted that the Portuguese had found his feet rather swiftly, and under the tutelage of yet another manager, the squad theirs.

So the UAE went into Thursday’s first step on what they hope will represent the Road to World Cup 2026 in confident mood. It helped, of course, that Nepal were the willing opponents at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai. Granted, the modest footballing nation have only one fewer appearance at an actual global finals than the UAE. That ratio, though, sits at 0:1.

While the UAE are chasing once more to emerge from the shadow of their starry old 1990 predecessors, Nepal reside currently as the second-lowest ranked country in this second round of qualification. At 173rd in the official world standings, they languish more than 100 spots below the UAE.

And, predictably, it told. The hosts were 1-0 up within 10 minutes, even if in truth they struggled to really find their rhythm. Ali Saleh exchanged a short corner with Abdullah Ramadan, whipped a delicious cross to the back post, and the unmarked Khalifa Al Hammadi thumped home a header from close range. Yet the UAE’s inability to connect all the dots kind of continued until just about the half-hour.

Watching on from the edge of his technical area, Bento stood for the most part with hands in pockets, only occasionally letting his frustration show. When he did disappear from view and returned to his seat in the dugout, the