FOOTBALL – Saudi Arabia were drawn to take on Iraq and Indonesia in the fourth phase of Asia’s preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup yesterday with back-to-back Asian Cup winners Qatar facing the UAE and Oman.
The winners of each of the three-team groups, which will be played in October, will join already-qualified Australia, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran and Jordan at next year’s expanded 48-nation finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Saudi Arabia, who are attempting to qualify for a seventh World Cup finals since 1994, will host Group A and open against Indonesia on October 8.
Indonesia will then play Graham Arnold’s Iraq on Oct. 11 before the Saudis and Iraq face off on October 14.
Group B hosts Qatar, organisers of the 2022 World Cup but who have never qualified for the finals, will take on Oman in their first game on October 8. UAE will face the Omanis 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.
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