Bišćan Takes Over U-23, Dalić the A Team
Igor Bišćan has agreed to all terms with the UAE Football Association and will become the coach of the Olympic team, further strengthening the Croatian coaching pipeline in the country.
Igor Bišćan has agreed to all terms with the UAE Football Association and will become the coach of the Olympic team, further strengthening the Croatian coaching pipeline in the country.
The United Arab Emirates Football Association continues to build its project on Croatian foundations. While official confirmation is still pending that Zlatko Dalić (59) will become the head coach of the A team, it was revealed on August 7, 2026, that Igor Bišćan (48) has agreed to all terms and will take charge of the Olympic squad, the U-23 team.
This exclusive information was published by Sportske novosti and confirmed by 24sata. It is a logical continuation of Dalić's arrival, as the Emirates' federation does not want to build only the senior national team but also establish a clear pathway between the U-23 and A teams.
Dalić will not come to the Emirates alone. He will bring a portion of the staff he has worked with for years in the Croatian national team, including Danijel Subašić (41), who will serve as the goalkeeping coach. Alongside them, a key link in connecting the younger and senior teams will be Branko Ivanković (72), an experienced coach with a wealth of experience in the Middle East, who will act as an advisor to the Emirates' federation.
Through a shared Croatian methodology, a similar playing model, and continuous collaboration among coaching staffs, the UAE leadership aims to develop a new generation of internationals for the next qualifying cycle, as well as for the 2030 World Cup.
Bišćan has extensive experience working with young players. He led the Croatian U-21 team from 2019 to 2023, securing qualification for the European Championship, where he took the "Mini Vatreni" to the quarterfinals for the first time. One of the reasons he has earned great trust from the Emirates' federation is precisely his ability to develop players.
At the club level, Bišćan has coached Rudeš, Olimpija Ljubljana, Rijeka, and Dinamo, and he has also worked with Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab and Qatar's Al-Ahli. This will be his first time taking on a national team role outside Croatia. Interestingly, he was one of the candidates for the Slovan coaching job, but the Slovak club ultimately chose Yaya Touré, the former Barcelona and Manchester City player.
His appointment confirms that the Emirates are not thinking only about short-term results for the first team but about creating a system that will ensure continuity in the years to come. Dalić takes over the A team, while Bišćan will be in charge of the Olympic team, with the aim of making the transition of the most promising players between these two squads as smooth and fast as possible.
In this way, Croatian experts will gain another significant position in UAE football, and Dalić and Bišćan will be key figures in a project aimed at long-term improvement of the national team's level and enabling it to compete for the most prestigious tournaments. The confirmation of Bišćan's arrival is also a step closer to the official announcement that Zlatko Dalić, with his coaching staff, will take the UAE bench.
