Today, the national football team begins a domestic training camp in the Al Jebel Ali area of Dubai in preparation for matches against the national teams of Iran and KNDR, which will take place on the 20th and 25th of this month respectively. These matches will be part of the second round of the qualifying stage for the 2026 World Cup.
The coaching staff of the team has selected a new squad of 27 players, among whom four will wear the national team's jersey for the first time: Kaio Lucas, Loan Pereira ('Sharjah'), Alaa Eddin Zukhair ('Al-Vahda') and Jonatas Santos ('Al-Wasl').
It is expected that the domestic training camp will begin today with only 13 players. The rest will join after completing participation in Asian and Gulf club competitions.
The upcoming camp in Al Jebel Ali will be the first for the team since December of last year, when the team participated in the Persian Gulf Cup and exited the tournament after the group stage.
The head coach of the team, Paulo Bento, is focused on correcting the disappointing performance of the team in the Persian Gulf Cup and plans to concentrate on the tactical and technical aspects of preparing for the upcoming matches. Due to limited time for the camp, they will not schedule friendly matches.
According to the schedule, Bento will have only players participating in the training. The head coach acknowledges the need to improve the team's play after the unsuccessful performance in the Persian Gulf Cup.
The match against Iran will be held at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, while the game against KNDR will take place at the Prince Faisal Stadium in Er-Riyadh. The national team is in third place in group A with 10 points, trailing behind the first and second places occupied by Iran and Uzbekistan.
