(Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates sacked Portuguese coach Paulo Bento on Wednesday, the morning after his team kept alive their hopes of direct qualification to the World Cup with a last-gasp win over North Korea in Riyadh.
Sultan Adil scored deep into stoppage time to secure the 2-1 win that cut the gap to second-placed Uzbekistan in Group A to four points ahead of the meeting between the two countries in their penultimate third-round qualifier on June 5.
The top two from each of three Asian groups qualify automatically for the 2026 finals but Bento will not now be around for the conclusion of the campaign.
“The UAE Football Association has decided to dismiss the head coach of the national team, Portuguese Paulo Bento, along with his coaching staff,” UAEFA said in a message on social media on Wednesday.
Bento, who guided Portugal to the semi-finals of Euro 2012 and South Korea to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup, had led the Emirates to 14 wins, six draws and six losses since he took over in July 2023.
Iran have already qualified from Group A and the UAE are assured of a spot in the fourth round of qualifying should they fail to secure an automatic ticket after the Uzbekistan clash and their final qualifier in Kyrgyzstan five days later.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney and Shifa Jahan, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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