Paulo Bento, the head coach of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) men's national soccer team (55), has been dismissed.

The UAE Football Association announced on the 26th (Korean time) through its official channel that it had decided to fire Bento, a Portuguese national, and his coaching staff.

After leading the UAE to a 2-1 victory against North Korea in the 8th match of Group A of the 3rd round of the World Cup Asian qualifiers held at Prince bin Fahd Sports City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Bento was dismissed.

With the victory over North Korea, the UAE has recorded 4 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses (13 points), placing them 3rd in Group A.

In the current World Cup Asian qualifiers, direct tickets to the finals are awarded to the top 2 teams in each group. The matches are played in a home-and-away format across 10 games each.

In Group A, Iran, the 'leader' with 20 points, has already secured a spot in the finals regardless of the results of the remaining 2 matches. Uzbekistan (17 points) and the UAE are competing for the 2nd place.

Even if the UAE does not qualify directly for the finals, they can challenge for another opportunity in the 4th round of qualifiers, where the 3rd and 4th place teams from each group can participate.

In the upcoming 9th match, the UAE will face Uzbekistan, who is in 2nd place. They must win to improve their standings, but analysis suggests it will not be easy to defeat 'powerhouse' Uzbekistan, having barely won against the bottom-ranked North Korea.

In this situation, the UAE Football Association opted to dismiss Coach Bento.

Coach Bento took over the UAE national team on July 9, 2023. He signed a three-year contract aiming for qualification for the 2026 North American World Cup but left his post with 1 year and 8 months remaining in his term.

Immediately after his appointment, Coach Bento had a smooth start, winning 4-1 in a friendly match against Costa Rica. In the World Cup Asia 2nd round qualifiers that began in November 2023, the UAE recorded 5 wins and 1 draw in 6 matches, finishing 1st in Group H and qualifying for the final qualifying round.

In the 3rd round qualifiers against Qatar in November 2024, Coach Bento gained attention with a 5-0 victory and continued to maintain hopes for direct qualification to the World Cup by defeating North Korea 2-1 in March this year.

However, after losing 0-2 in an away match against Iran on March 20, public opinion deteriorated rapidly. Additionally, they barely won against the 'bottom place' North Korea with a last-minute goal in the second half.

Under Bento's leadership, the UAE also did not meet expectations in the Asian Cup.

In the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup held in Qatar in January 2024, the UAE advanced to the round of 16 with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss in the group stage, but was eliminated after a penalty shootout against Tajikistan. This was a disappointing performance compared to their semifinal myth in 2019.

At that time, Coach Bento faced criticism for his declining performance, as well as for not including Ali Mabkhout in the starting lineup.

Coach Bento oversaw a total of 26 matches in the UAE, recording 14 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses. His win rate was about 53.8%, which was among the highest levels in recent UAE national team coaches. However, he resigned due to early elimination in the Asian Cup and poor performance in the second half of the 3rd round qualifiers for the World Cup.

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