Bento looking to extend winning start as UAE kick off 2026 World Cup qualifiers

DUBAI: Another ticket to the World Cup after more than three decades away, or another false dawn?

That is the burning question which hangs over Paulo Bento’s UAE side ahead of Thursday’s competitive debut versus Nepal, when qualifying kicks off.

The ex-Portugal and South Korea tactician’s start has been exemplary. It has included a trio of friendly victories, opening with September’s 4-1 bow against Keylor Navas’ Costa Rica.

The UAE’s stale squad appears rejuvenated by fresh faces, and a renewed sense of purpose has radiated out to the country’s often jaded fanbase.

How Saudi Arabia’s Roberto Mancini and Bento’s Portuguese compatriot Carlos Queiroz with Qatar must envy this efficacious introduction.

Now comes the real test for a nation who stumbled through a torturous 2022 cycle under Bento’s many predecessors.

A cursory scan of the road to Qatar details a pained near miss for The Whites, with Australia edging their tense fourth-round tie 2-1. In theory, an improving side were almost one game away from returning to football’s grandest tournament for the first time since 1990.

The preceding World Cup process, however, featured two stints at the helm for Bert van Marwijk, brief spells with Ivan Jovanovic and Jorge Luis Pinto amid the coronavirus pandemic, and Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s third-round interlude headlined by an encouraging defeat of South Korea, then defining reversal to the Socceroos.

Order and focus must be inculcated by Bento, the UAE’s sixth permanent appointment since 2019. His record-long four-year tenure with South Korea culminated after last December’s World Cup round-of-16 defeat to Brazil.

Similar goodwill surrounded Van Marwijk at the same point in 2019. It soon dissipated into recriminations