Paulo Bento demands UAE improvement ahead of next 2026 World Cup qualifying phase

National team, already secured of top spot in Group H of Round 2, held to a 1-1 draw by Bahrain in Dubai

UAE's Fahad Badr battles with Bahrain's Hamad Al Shamsan during the 2026 World Cup qualifying match at Zabeel Stadium, Dubai. All photos Chris Whiteoak / The National

UAE's Tahnoon Al Zaabi and Bahrain's Ali Madan compete for the ball during the 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Dubai.

UAE manager Paulo Bento watches the match from the touchline.

UAE's Yahya Al Ghassani and Bahrain's Mohamed Marhoon challenge for the ball during the match at Zabeel Stadium.

UAE's Ali Saleh with the ball after drawing a foul against Bahrain.

UAE's Mubarak Zamah attempts to pass the ball past Bahrain players during the match in Dubai.

Bahrain's Mahdi Abduljabbar scores the opening goal against the UAE.

Sultan Adil celebrates after scoring the equaliser for the UAE against Bahrain.

The UAE team line up before the 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain.

The Bahrain team line up before the 2026 World Cup qualifying match against the UAE.

Paulo Bento has called on his UAE squad to improve considerably for the step up in competition in the next round of qualification for the 2026 World Cup, after they concluded an unbeaten second phase campaign on Tuesday night.

The national team, who secured progression to Round 3 with two matches to spare, failed to make it six wins from six in Group H when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Bahrain in Dubai.

Mahdi Abduljabbar opened the scoring for the visitors at Zabeel Stadium on four minutes, with Sultan Adil equalising for the hosts six minutes later.

The UAE were already guaranteed to advance as group winners, while Bahrain went into the match with second place confirmed.

The draw for the third round takes place in Kuala Lumpur on June 27, where the UAE could be pitted against the likes of Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia or Saudi Arabia.

Asked by The National post-match for his evaluation of the progress made since his appointment last July, Bento said: “We improved in certain aspects, of course, since the beginning. But what I feel in this moment, and I cannot hide that because it’s always better we let the people know how the things are in this moment.

“Because I understand the expectations, but we should take in consideration many, many aspects and the context, and the context that we’re going to find in the future.

“Which kind of teams we are going to find; which type of players we are going to face; what their players are used to, and what are players are used to; where they are competing for a long time, and in which context their players are competing.

“So, all of these things we should take into consideration in order to prepare the best strategy and best decisions to compete as much as we can and as well as possible.

“But they need to move forward. They need to understand the game in a different way. We shouldn’t not have in consideration our weakness and don’t think we are better than we really are.

"This is a bad step. We should realise how good we are and how weak we are, at the same time, and be humble.”

Bento, who managed South Korea to the 2022 World Cup knockout stages, highlighted the team’s lack of aggression as one area that needs developing.

The UAE finished their second-round campaign with 16 points from a possible 18, while they scored 16 goals and conceded only two.

However, Bento understands the third round, which provides an increased six automatic qualifying spots for the expanded, 48-team World Cup – the third and fourth-placed sides from the three groups move into Round 4 – will offer a far greater challenge.

The third round is scheduled to begin in September.

“In order to improve, in order to know more things about the game in the tactical way, and the mental aspect in the next stage, will be very, very important,” Bento said. “I already talked yesterday [in the pre-match press conference] about that: long trips, jet lag, and the other teams used to that more often.

“So, they will be in another level and we should make different things to compete with them; not what we did until now. We should improve that.

“This is what I feel and my analysis since the beginning is that we have improved certain things, but in my opinion it will not be enough.”

Bento described the performance against Bahrain as “not good”, with the Portuguese coach saying the draw was a fair result.

On what he feels needs most work going forward, he said: “In general we have a lot of things to improve; the way that we compete is one of them. The lack of aggression we show in many, many moments in the games.

“It’s clear in our opinion, it’s something that we must change, because in the next phase it’s not going to be possible to play with a lack of aggression.

“It’s important, of course, that we become a more aggressive team. In the defensive process but also in the offensive line. The organisation in general, we should improve.”