BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
Former Real Madrid’s coach Carlos Queiroz will be leading the Gulf state, Oman to their first-ever World Cup as the country prepares for the next phase of Asia’s preliminaries for the 2026 finals.
The Omanis take on Qatar in Group A of the fourth round of the continent’s qualifiers in Doha on Wednesday before facing off against the United Arab Emirates three days later in the battle for one of Asia’s two remaining World Cup slots.
The group winners will join Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan in securing a ticket for the finals at the first 48-team finals and Al-Ghassani has backed the wily Queiroz to make a difference.
“He’s a big coach, he has experience,” Al-Ghassani said of Queiroz, who is attempting to secure his fifth World Cup appearance after featuring three times with Iran and once with his native Portugal, Reuters reported.
“He’s worked with us for about three months and he’s worked well and he’s helping us to go to the World Cup hopefully.
“It’s a good chance for us, for my counctry to make history. We’re prepared for these games and we can do it.”
Oman, currently ranked 78th in the world, have never qualified for the World Cup while the Qataris are attempting to progress through the preliminaries for the first time having previously appeared as hosts in 2022.
The UAE will be attempting to book a return to the finals 36 years after their only previous appearance, in Italy in 1990.
The battle for the other automatic World Cup berth will be held in Jeddah, where six-times qualifiers Saudi Arabia will kick off the fourth round against Indonesia, coached by Patrick Kluivert, on Wednesday.
Iraq, led by former Australia coach Graham Arnold, complete the line-up in Group B.
The winners of each group advance directly to the World Cup with the runners-up facing off in November over two legs to determine which nation will appear in an intercontinental playoff in March for the last remaining berth.
