Determining the final two Asian representatives for the 2026 World Cup

Coach Lopetegui helped Qatar win a ticket to the World Cup

Before entering the final round, Qatar was at a disadvantage with only 1 point from the draw with Oman. They had to beat UAE to get a direct ticket. In the previous 2 clashes with UAE, Qatar lost, conceding 8 goals.

The past of being outclassed by their neighbor may have put pressure on the fighting spirit of the reigning Asian champions. In the first half, Qatar continued to make many mistakes in their operations. But then in the 49th minute, conductor Akram Afif still shone with an assist for Khoukhi to open the score. This was the first goal that Qatar scored in the 4th qualifying round.

In the excitement, Pedro Miguel doubled the gap in the 74th minute. Once again, Afif played the role of creator with a pass to help the home team lead 2-0.

UAE had the advantage of one more man when Qatar received a red card in the 86th minute. But all they could muster was a consolation goal in the 8th minute of injury time. The final score was 2-1 in favor of Qatar, helping the team win the top spot in the group and earn a ticket to the finals.

In the next match, Saudi Arabia followed Qatar. The team in blue had an advantage thanks to a better goal difference than Iraq (beating Indonesia 3-2 while Iraq won 1-0). So they were not under pressure to win at all costs.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq played a probing game in the first half, leading to a game with not much to say, and neither team even had a shot on target. In the second half, the game became more open with consecutive opportunities belonging to Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, this team could not take advantage and had to be satisfied with a score of 0-0.

Saudi Arabia finished the final qualifying round with 4 points, ahead of Iraq thanks to more goals scored. Along with Uzbekistan, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia is one of the 8 AFC teams that have won tickets to the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, UAE and Iraq will have to fight to decide which team will enter the Intercontinental Play-off round.