New UAE manager Paulo Bento puts squad through paces as 2026 World Cup preparations begin

The UAE national team have begun life with manager Paulo Bento, as they kicked off preparations for 2026 World Cup qualification with a training camp in Austria.

Bento, appointed earlier this month on a three-year contract, travelled with his new team on Saturday for a 13-day get-together before the 2023/24 Adnoc Pro League gets under way on August 18.

The Portuguese coach, 54, guided South Korea to the knockout stages of last year’s World Cup, and has been handed a remit of masterminding what would represent only the UAE’s second qualification for a World Cup. The second round of qualifiers, where the UAE enter, begins in November.

Previously managed by Argentine Rodolfo Arruabarrena, the national team were last week drawn in Group H alongside Bahrain and either Yemen or Sri Lanka, and Nepal or Laos. Those sides must first come through a play-off in October.

The UAE will host Nepal or Laos on Matchday 1 on November 16 before taking on Bahrain in Manama five days later.

The 2026 World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams. The UAE have only once previously reached a global finals, in 1990.