Favored by AFC, Saudi Arabia and Qatar officially won tickets to World Cup 2026

With so many advantages received in the 4th stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, the two football giants Saudi Arabia and Qatar have won tickets to the most attractive football festival on the planet.

Saudi Arabia (blue shirt) held Iraq to a draw - Photo: REUTERS

Saudi Arabia entered the final match of Group B with a significant advantage over Iraq. Both had three points, but Saudi Arabia beat Indonesia 3-2, while Iraq only won 1-0. So a draw was enough for the hosts to book a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

In addition to this advantage in terms of points, Saudi Arabia also has home field advantage as well as twice as many days off as its opponent (6 days compared to only 3 days for Iraq).

This is an advantage that comes from the pure choice of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) when they choose the host and schedule the matches for the 4th stage of the World Cup qualifiers.

Accordingly, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were chosen as the hosts of Groups A and B. Not only that, because each group has 3 teams, the matches are staggered. Both home teams play Match 1 and Match 3, so they have more rest time than their opponents when entering the final match.

Saudi Arabia's Sports Minister - Mr. Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal went down to the field to celebrate - Photo: REUTERS

Teams such as UAE, Iraq, and Indonesia have strongly protested the AFC about this decision, claiming that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are being favored too much.

Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia are renowned for their rich footballing backgrounds, which are increasingly dominating the world of football. They are constantly expanding their tournaments, gathering stars, as well as building extremely magnificent sports infrastructure.

And with that advantage, Qatar and Saudi Arabia made no mistakes in the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers.

Against a weakened Iraq, tired after the dramatic match with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia dominated the game. They did not play well enough, but just enough to hold their opponents to a 0-0 draw, thereby finishing top of Group B.

Qatar team celebrates winning tickets to the World Cup - Photo: REUTERS

Not long before, Qatar also defeated UAE 2-1 to win the top spot in Group A - equivalent to an official ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Thus, Qatar and Saudi Arabia follow Japan, South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Australia to become the 8 official representatives of Asia at the 2026 World Cup.

Meanwhile, the two runners-up, UAE and Iraq, will now face each other in the fifth round. The winner will secure a place in the intercontinental play-off round.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/duoc-afc-uu-ai-saudi-arabia-va-qatar-chinh-thuc-gianh-ve-den-world-cup-2026-20251015053301731.htm