RIYADH: The UAE 2026 World Cup officially kicked off after the appointment of former coach of Portugal and South Korea, Paulo Bento, to a three-year contract.

Pinto, 54, was unveiled Sunday as the nation’s sixth permanent appointment — Bert van Marwijk has been appointed twice — since March 2019.

He has arrived from his record four-year stint in the Taeguk Warriors with the task of securing their second-ever qualification for the expanded global event and building on their back-to-back semi-final appearances when the 2023 AFC Asian Cup kicks off this winter in Qatar.

To achieve these big goals, a large number of challenges must be faced. Here’s a look at Rodolfo’s Arroabarrena Replacement Puffy Tray:

Juggling action between the old and the new

Pinto’s contradictory words as the last president of the United Arab Emirates spoke to the difficulties inherent in the position.

Speaking at the headquarters of the UAE Football Association in Al Khawaneej on the outskirts of Dubai, he said: “We look forward to starting work to try to achieve our goals.

“We know it will be a long process as we want to stabilize the team and the federation.

“But we want to be ambitious, of course; that is our goal. We know we have a competition in January (the Asian Cup), and then the World Cup in 2026.”

A long process can be taken which means that this will now gradually become the team of Al Wasl striker Ali Saleh, Shabab Al Ahly Dubai striker Yahya Al Ghassani, Sharjah midfielder Majid Rashid and even Sultan Ittihad Kalba Adel.

But the UAE has no time to lose after several unsatisfactory years and Pinto must be ambitious.

Can top scorer with 81 goals Ali Mabkhout be persuaded to play a key role in 2026? Will 32-year-old Kaio Canedo return to Al Wasl again? And is the door tightly closed on Omar Abdul Rahman, the best player in Asia for 2016, if the 2023-24 season heralds another new dawn?

Re-operation achieved with South Korea

Bento helped change perceptions with South Korea.

Repetition is necessary in a UAE that is overburdened with talent, but lacks consistency and stability.

The South Korean’s stereotype of being indefatigable has been changed into a methodical, possession-heavy outfit with an emphasis on accumulating play. The latter pattern fits well with what the technologically distinct UAE has pursued, to mixed results, given the slew of pinto antecedents of late.

Tottenham star Son Heung-min and Napoli’s Serie A title-winning fullback Kim Min-jae have been highlights under Bento, who posted a solid winning percentage of 61.4 in 57 matches in South Korea.

However, his insertion of now-measured Olympiacos midfielder Hwang In-bum into the fold ahead of the January 2019 Asian Cup quarter-finals – in the UAE – symbolizes his methodology.

Al-Wasl club striker Fabio de Lima, Al-Ahly youth star Hareb Abdullah – who drowned South Korea Pinto in a previous meeting – and Al-Jazira’s fast defense midfielder Khalifa Al-Hammadi are among the most prominent Emirati players for 2026.

But the detailed doctrine of occupying the position in the midfield indicates a greater importance to Abdullah Ramadan from Al-Jazira player, Abdullah Hamad from Al-Wehda, and perhaps Hussein Mahdi from Al-Nasr.

We must adapt to new plans and strategies. We will take into account the positive points and add our thoughts to them. Our ambitions are great and our goals are clear.”

The results speak for themselves

South Korea’s qualification to the 2022 World Cup under Bento was easy compared to the 2018 edition with Uli Stielik and Shin Tae-young.

Last year’s Final Round 16 enjoyed more possession, accurate passes, crosses, volleys and shots on goal in the group stage than in 2018, according to Forbes.

All the encouraging signs for the head coach unfairly stigmatized him for an unfulfilled four-year spell with the Portugal national team who would go on to claim Euro 2016 after him.

Provide a sense of stability

A quick look at the UAE’s latest tour shows their narrow miss of the 2022 World Cup.

But going through the many coaches and the troubling elimination from the group stage in the Arabian Gulf Cup on January 25 – the second in a row – points to noticeable underlying problems with the 72nd-ranked Fifa side.

Pinto has to get away from this storm

The Whites went into one game at Qatar 2022, where the injury-struck side suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in the fourth round on aggregate against Australia who produced an impressive performance in the tournament itself. However, this provides insufficient context for the tortuous path that led up to this point.

Van Marwijk’s attempt to quickly break up the golden generation caused the 2010 World Cup finalist to start the second round and dismiss the team within nine months.

And successor Ivan Jovanovic left without overseeing a match, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic, and 2014 World Cup quarter-finalist Jorge Luis Pinto in Costa Rica befell a similar fate after five months and three friendlies.

The returning Van Marwijk dragged the UAE into the third round but he will be sent off again once automatic qualification is ruled out.

Al-Wasl and former Al-Ahly youth team Arruabarrena achieved a famous victory in March 2022 at home against South Korea’s Al-Qaher Pinto to progress from that stage, before overseeing the Arabian Gulf Cup disaster in January in Iraq.

Get off the ground running

Acclimatization is an immediate concern. Former Sporting Lisbon, Cruzeiro and Olympiacos players and Chongqing tactics expert Lifan described the inaugural training camp from July 29 to August 10 as a “knowledge gathering and will not include a friendly match”.

Matches are scheduled to follow this fall in preparation for the opening 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November. The draw for the second round will take place on 27 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Then attention turns to the Asian Cup. The UAE was placed in Group C alongside heavyweights Iran, Hong Kong and Palestine. Only the first two ends guarantee progression to knockouts.

A strong start is a must. The past four years suggest that the UAE will not wait.