UAE to resume 2026 World Cup qualification quest against Qatar and Oman

The National

17-07-2025

The next phase of UAE's mission to qualify for the 2026 World Cup has been set up with the national team drawn to face Qatar and Oman in the fourth round of Asia qualifying.
The UAE had qualified for the final round of a complicated qualification process after failing to make the cut in the previous round.
In June, new coach Cosmin Olaroiu had a great chance to secure qualification soon after taking over the team. However, the UAE were held to a 0-0 draw by Uzbekistan in a crucial third-round qualifier in Abu Dhabi. Victory there would have handed them a spot in the World Cup finals.
However, now the UAE will have to go through another round of qualification for next year's expanded 48-nation tournament that takes place in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The winners of the three-team groups - matches for which will be played in October - will join the already-qualified Australia, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran and Jordan at next year's finals.
Saudi Arabia host Group A and open against Indonesia on October 8. Indonesia then play Graham Arnold's Iraq on October 11 before the kingdom and Iraq face off on October 14.
Group B hosts Qatar, who had successfully hosted the 2022 World Cup, will take on Oman in their first game on October 8. UAE take on Oman on October 11, with Qatar and the UAE meeting on October 14.
The nations finishing in second place in each group will advance to a further round of qualifying, which will be held over two legs in November on a home-and-away basis.
Asia has been granted eight guaranteed berths at the finals. A possible ninth berth is available to the winner of November's match-up via an intercontinental playoff in March.
While it is a complicated route to the finals, UAE forward Caio Canedo said the team remains confident.
'There is a feeling of disappointment because only the victory mattered, but we can still go to the World Cup, just in a different way,' Canedo had said after the match against Uzbekistan.
'If you see the players now, nobody is happy. But we have to believe in the project, we have to believe in the new coach, a great coach with new ideas.
'It is still the beginning, with a new project and ideas and we are all working together. We have got to keep going. We still have another way to go through.'
There is also the larger issue of discipline that needs attention. Ahead of their final match of the third round of Asian qualifying, two key players were thrown out of the squad and heavily fined for disciplinary issues.
Khaled Al Dhanhani and Sultan Adil were stood down from the squad travelling to Kyrgyzstan and also banned from domestic football for five matches for an unspecified 'violation'.
UAE coach Olaroiu had said discipline was paramount. 'It is always disappointing to have to make this kind of a decision, but when the players come to play for the national team, they have to understand it is not about themselves,' the Romanian said.