Paulo Bento confident he can revive UAE’s 2026 World Cup qualifying bid

Portuguese manager realises importance of three points against Kyrgyzstan in Abu Dhabi on Thursday

UAE's Yahya Al Ghassani scores in the World Cup qualifier against North Korea at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Thursday, October 10, 2024. All images Chris Whiteoak / The National

UAE's Caio Canedo pleads for a foul against North Korea at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. North Korea scored a late equaliser to share the points on Thursday

Ali Salmeen of UAE battles for the ball with Kwang Song Han of North Korea

UAE's Kouame Autonne jumps for a header in Al Ain

UAE fans at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium

UAE manager Paulo Bento at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium

UAE's Harib Abdalla vies for the ball with Kuk-Bom Kim of North Korea

After a stunning start in which they rallied from a goal down for a 3-1 win against Qatar, the UAE have stumbled to two defeats and a draw to lag behind in their Fifa 2026 World Cup Qualifying section.

Precariously placed at just four points after four games, the national team now have an opportunity to revive their campaign when they host Kyrgyzstan at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The central Asian side are meeting the UAE in a World Cup qualifier for the first time. They haven’t been successful in two previous meetings against the UAE, going down 1-0 in a friendly in December last year and 3-2 in the Asia Cup Round of 16 in January 2019.

However, Kyrgyzstan arrive on the back of a win against North Korea and will be keen to take that momentum forward.

UAE are six points behind both Iran and Uzbekistan in Group A and anything less than three points against Kyrgyzstan can have dire consequences for their chances of a second appearance on the global stage with only the top two sides sure of progress.

“They won the last game and they are on three points, one less than us. It's clear for us that this is a very important game,” UAE manager Paulo Bento said at his pre-match conference on Wednesday.

“We try to transmit this to the players since the beginning of our preparation for this game, and how important this is going to be. I'm confident going by the way the players have trained on these days. We have enough reasons to be confident.”

Bento revealed the difference in their preparation compared to the last camp.

“We try to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. We try to bring the right information about our opponent,” the Portuguese said.

“They used more often a tactical system with five or three at the back. We can expect a team that can play in 5-3-2 or in 5-4-1. They are a team with a simple process.

“They attack the dead space in the proper way, so we need to be aware about these aspects. And of course, we try to play as we like to play. Try to dominate the game and control the game.”

Bento said their only aim is to get as many points as possible from the remaining matches and then see where they stand in the qualifiers. Should they manage to finish third in the section they will enter a new phase of qualifying.

“To be honest, in the four games we played until now in this phase, we competed well in three of them even if the results were not so good in two of them,” he added.

“The defeats to Iran and Uzbekistan were fair but the 1-1 result against North Korea wasn’t a good game.”

Bento has a full squad at his disposal and, with a final training session, the line-up will be decided on the morning of the match.

Mohammed Al Attas, who accompanied the coach at the pre-match conference, said the players were upbeat and confident of gaining full points.

“We have prepared well and are aware of what we need to do on the pitch to win the three points. That will be our objective going into this game and improve our position,” he said.

Kyrgyzstan manager Maksim Listitsyn pointed out that playing in a World Cup qualifier is difficult for every team.

“I guess our match against the UAE will be great and we’ll show a good performance,” he said.

“Obviously, we’ll do our best to get a good result for us. Playing at this level will always bring pressure to every participating team and it’s not to be compared with how any team played the previous game and the results.

“We are realistic and understand our abilities. Of course, we feel confident. Our players are ready to play, it doesn't matter against whom and where. We are ready to take on any challenge and that’s what we are here for.”