When the UAE faced North Korea in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match in Saudi capital Riyadh, due to North Korea’s isolationist policy, the UAE were the better side by paper. Yet it took Al-Abyad eight minutes of the second half’s added times to finally produce the winner, with Sultan Adil delivering his Flying Dutchman moment to overcome a tough North Korean defence.
Yet, days after the win in Riyadh, Portuguese tactician Paulo Bento was relieved from the duty. By this point, Bento had guided the UAE to 13 points, a decent performance so far at least. But with only two matches left in June and their direct rivals, Uzbekistan, four points ahead, the decision to terminate the contract with Bento was a surprise for outside observers. For some, the UAE should’ve stayed with Bento until the end of the campaign, but they did not have the confidence to do that.
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Digging deeper though, another story emerges, and this has more to do with the federation’s functional failure. The UAE Football Association is currently in a poor state, where rival factions consolidate powers at the expense of the common. The two most powerful cliques inside the UAEFA are the Abu Dhabi clique and Dubai clique, affiliating with the two largest cities in the Emirates. Interestingly, these cities also form the bulk of the UAE’s economy and political power, as they are run by the two largest dynasties, the Al-Maktoum of Dubai and the Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. It shows how powerful these cliques are when it comes to the beautiful game.
The problem is these cliques are often against each other. And it’s manifested deeply in Abu Dhabi and Dubai cliques. Each have their own Sports Councils with competing interests. Despite sharing the aim to improve Emirati football, their feud makes it impossible to work for a common goal. As such, they can’t build a proper football structure for their country. To make it worse, the UAEFA is based in Dubai, while the UAE Pro League headquarters is based in Abu Dhabi, deepening the rift.
Ali Ahmed Mabkhout of UAE. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Former President of the UAEFA, Yousuf Al-Serkal, had already known there were inner problems for years. Having served in two separate terms, he was the only one who could wield enough authority to implement reforms. During the second term, especially in light of the disaster at the 2014 World Cup qualification run, Al-Serkal actively promoted Mahdi Ali as the national team coach. Mahdi Ali was the former youth coach of the UAE U20 team that won the 2008 AFC U19 Championship before getting a dream run at the 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup, and he quickly proved why he was the choice.
Under Ali, Al-Abyad regained their standing with a second Gulf Cup title, a third-place finish at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, then shocked the Asian footballing community with a famous 2-1 away win in Saitama over powerhouses Japan in the opener of the 2018 WCQ third round. However, Al-Serkal was deeply unpopular among the powerful Sports Council of both cities. He was dismissed in 2016, with the rejuvenation project already envisioned but never materialised.
Without Al-Serkal’s vision, Mahdi Ali was forced to quit the role as well and Al-Abyad have rotated over nine managers since then, without desirable results. Likewise, the UAE’s struggle is further reflected on the pitch: their 2019 AFC Asian Cup saw the UAE finish in the semi-finals, but their form suggested a regression; before the horror of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup saw the UAE knocked out by Tajikistan in the last sixteen. At the Gulf Cup, since 2017, the UAE could not advance past the group stages. Meanwhile, in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Al-Abyad made it to the playoff after yet another series of coaching and selection instabilities, only to be dumped out by the Socceroos in the process to extend the UAE’s World Cup drought since the 1990 debut.
Amid the current 2026 WCQ campaign, nothing has really changed. Despite revealing the major development plan called “Football Strategy – Vision 2038”, it resembles something more like leaving the work unfinished. The sacking of Paulo Bento means that the UAE will again have to find a new coach quickly to fare up against Uzbekistan in June. But the Uzbeks aren’t pushovers, and the historical head-to-head record tells a worrying pattern. Despite having more wins, home ground isn’t exactly an advantage for Al-Abyad with Uzbekistan already claiming four wins on Emirati soil. Only a miracle could save this subpar UAE team, and inspire them to defeat a confident Uzbekistan side. Realistically, the playoff position appears the only feasible option left.
(Photo by Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)
What makes it so problematic is that the UAE, in order to salvage anything related to their WCQ run, have decided to go all in by naturalising a growing number of players, mainly from Brazil, to chase the target. Yet, with all the newly acquired members, the UAE cannot make it right; consecutive defeats to Iran and Uzbekistan mean the UAE’s chances have been reduced to very thin.
But it’s the inability to accept the developmental problems that makes the UAEFA leadership far more paranoid – chasing short-term goals over long-term targets, perpetuating more chaos inside the organisation.
This is best reflected in the grassroots program. In order to get immediate results, the UAE have neglected youth development, resulting in an increasing shortage of young talents. While players like Ali Saleh, Sultan Adil and Yahya Al-Ghassani are some of the next gems of Emirati football, they have been crippled by an insipid federation that has proved so inept at maximising their potential.
With a system so broken to this point, it is unlikely that cases like Paulo Bento will be the end of the Emirati football crisis. Simply put, Bento had become a scapegoat for the problems of UAEFA. The Portuguese manager was literally powerless. Any next coach coming to the Al-Abyad hot seat may also need to understand the impatience of the UAE football leadership.
But will the UAE ever come to realise what they really need to achieve the Vision 2038 target? Currently, that remains unclear. And even if the UAE, somehow, manage to reach the World Cup, can the momentum ever be sustained? It’s questionable at best, but perhaps the UAE need to face the reality: they’re not where they should be.
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