4 technical indicators that enhance the “White” team’s chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup

The technical staff of the national football team, led by Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, has set a roadmap for preparing the team for the next stage in the final round of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup by launching its preparations in an internal camp in Abu Dhabi at the end of this month, in preparation for its matches against the Qatari and Iranian teams on the fifth and tenth of next month for the first group, which includes, in addition to the three teams, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea.

Four technical indicators stand out that enhance the team’s chances of qualifying for the final of the upcoming World Cup, represented by Bento’s good knowledge of Asian football and specifically its competitors in Group One, especially the teams of Iran, Qatar and Uzbekistan, which are considered among the strongest teams in Group One, through his previous training of the South Korean team for four years, which he concluded by leading it in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, in addition to the good physical and technical condition of the team players, and the list of influential players in the team currently free of any significant injuries, with the exception of Al Wasl player Fabio Lima, who has begun the recovery phase from the injury he sustained in the past period and has undergone a successful surgery on the cartilage of his left knee, in addition to the participation of the team players with their clubs in three rounds of local competitions during the new football season, including one round in the Professional League Cup competition “Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup”, which will start from the 17th of this month, and two rounds in the ADNOC Professional League, which will start in turn from the 23rd of the same month, before joining the team’s expected camp at the end of this month, which is considered good preparation for these players As part of the national team’s technical staff’s keenness to prepare the national team players well, in addition to the national team players’ recent participation with their teams during the summer training camps in preparation for the new season 2024-2025, noting that the total number of friendly matches played by the clubs before the start of the new season amounts to 64 friendly matches according to the program announced by these clubs so far, which also reflects positively in terms of technical readiness on the club players who will join the national team at a later time.

Khaled Obaid: Players’ readiness will become clear after the first 3 rounds of the season

Technical analyst and former Al Nasr football team manager Khaled Obaid said that it is difficult to judge currently the list of players who will be selected in the national team lineup in preparation for the matches against Qatar and Iran, indicating that the picture will become clear after the first three rounds at the beginning of the new season, including one round in the Abu Dhabi Bank Cup and two rounds in the ADNOC Professional League.

Obaid added to Al-Emarat Al-Youm: “Currently, there is ambiguity regarding the line-up that Al-Abyad will rely on in the first and second round matches in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers,” stressing that the clubs playing a number of official matches before the national team gathers will give the technical staff a great advantage in choosing the most prepared players to join the team’s roster that will play the two upcoming matches.

4 Technical Indicators

1 Bento has a good knowledge of Asian football, having previously coached the South Korean national team for four years.

2. Good physical condition and the absence of any significant injuries among the influential players in the national team, with the exception of Lima, who has begun the recovery phase from an injury he recently suffered.

3 The national team players played three rounds with their teams in the new season before joining the national team in preparation for the matches against Qatar and Iran, which is considered good preparation for them.

4- Participation of the national team players with their teams in summer training camps in preparation for the new season.