2024-03-22 05:41:00
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Iraq, Australia and Japan took a big step towards the third round of the double Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup in football, with each of them achieving a third successive victory in the third round on Thursday.
The six teams raised their score to nine points and are likely to increase their score by three more when they go into the fourth round on Tuesday.
The top two teams from the nine groups qualify for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers scheduled for the United States, Canada and Mexico, and at the same time those teams reserve their places in the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, noting that Asia is represented by eight teams with the possibility of rising to nine according to the results of the global playoff.
– A hat-trick for the continental champion –
Qatar began its era without its captain, Hassan Al-Haydous, who retired internationally on Saturday, with a major victory over its neighbor Kuwait 3-0 and moved away at the top of Group A.
The Qatari national team, champion of the last two editions of the Asian Cup 2019 and 2023, owes its victory to its star Akram Afif, who scored two goals (47 and 67) and was behind the third goal scored by substitute Ahmed Al-Rawi (51).
Al-Annabi raised its score to ninth point in the lead, while Kuwait’s score stagnated at three and fell to third place, one point behind India, which tied negatively with Afghanistan.
– A difficult victory for Saudi Arabia –
Salem Al-Dosari led the Saudi national team to a difficult victory over its Tajikistan guest 1-0 in the seventh group by scoring the only goal in the 23rd minute, raising his country’s score to nine points in the lead, five ahead of Tajikistan and Jordan, which won over its host Pakistan 3-0.
The Saudi team began the match with great pressure to open the scoring, and Saud Abdul Hamid almost did it after dribbling more than one player before shooting a ball that was pushed out of the goal by one of the defenders (14).
Al-Dosari succeeded in translating the pressure of Italian coach Roberto Mancini’s men in the 23rd minute after he dribbled more than one player and shot the ball into the goal.
In the same group, French Montpellier striker Musa Al-Taamari led the Jordanian team to its first victory, scoring a brace during its easy 3-0 victory over its Pakistani host.
Jordan, led by Moroccan coach Hussein Amouta, achieved the best result in its history in the Asian Cup, when it finished runner-up to host Qatar at the beginning of the year, but it did not qualify for the World Cup.
Al-Taamari (2 and 86) and Ali Alwan (9 from a penalty kick) scored the goals for Jordan, which raised its score to four points.
– For Iraq and the Emirates –
The Iraqi national team achieved a difficult and late victory over its Filipino guest, 1-0, at Basra International Stadium, in the presence of 65,000 spectators in the sixth group.
Mohannad Ali scored the only goal of the match in the 84th minute.
Iraq raised its score to nine points in the lead, five ahead of its direct pursuer, Indonesia, which beat Vietnam 1-0 and snatched second place from them by one point, while the Philippines’ score froze at one point in last place.
At eight o’clock, the UAE made a long way towards the third round with a difficult victory over its guest Yemen 2-1 in Abu Dhabi.
Ali Saleh (24 from a penalty kick) and Sultan Adel (72) scored the UAE’s goals, and Abdullah Idris (70 fouls against his country’s team) scored Yemen’s goal.
The UAE raised its lead score to 9 points, and Yemen remained third with 3 points.
The UAE needs to renew its victory over Yemen on Tuesday to guarantee one of the group’s two places to the third round.
In the same group, Bahrain achieved a major victory over its host, Nepal, with a clean five, scored by Mahdi Faisal Al-Humaidan (2), Sayed Mahdi Baqir (9), Ali Jaafar Madan (45 + 4), Ibrahim Mubarak Al-Khattal (87), and Ismail Abdul Latif (90 + 6 from Penalty).
The match was held at Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa.
– Australia needs a point –
Australia is one point away from reaching the third round, after defeating its guest Lebanon 2-0 in Sydney in Group Nine.
Australia raised its score to nine points, while Lebanon’s score froze at two points, falling to third place, two points behind Palestine, which defeated Bangladesh 5-0 at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait.
In front of 27,000 spectators, the Australian national team did not give its guest enough time to feel the pulse. Five minutes later, midfielder Keanu Bakos opened the scoring with a cross that deceived goalkeeper Mustafa Matar.
Australia increased the lead through Kay Rowles with a shot from a tight angle into the roof of the goal (54).
The two teams will meet again on Tuesday in the capital, Canberra, on Lebanese soil, due to the absence of any stadium in Lebanon that matches the standards of the Asian and International Federations.
– Syria falters –
Syria fell into the trap of a 1-1 draw against flooded Myanmar in a second group in which Japan came close to qualifying, after a third successive victory over its guest, North Korea, 1-0, with a goal by Ao Tanaka (2).
After falling behind to a goal by Su Mo Kyaw (35), Syria responded through substitute Alaa Al-Dali (71), raising its score to four points, five points ahead of leaders Japan, whose next match on North Korean soil on Tuesday is up in the air, after the latter expressed its inability. On hosting.
Son Heung-min scored a goal, but South Korea fell to a 1-1 draw against its host, Thailand, in the first match for the “Taeguk Warriors” after the dismissal of German coach Jurgen Klinsmann following the failure in the last Asian Cup, and the quarrel between Son and the young French player from Paris Saint-Germain. Lee Kang-in, who dislocated the finger of the English Tottenham star on the eve of the 0-2 loss to Jordan in the semi-finals.
Suphanath Muyanta (62) scored for Thailand against the rules of play, after Son opened the scoring in the 42nd minute from close range.
South Korea raised its score to seven points at the top of Group C, three ahead of both Thailand and China, which wasted a two-goal lead over host Singapore before they tied 2-2.
Oman regained its balance by defeating its host Malaysia 2-0 in Muscat in the fourth group, scored by Essam Abdullah Al-Subhi (58) and Mohsen Saleh Al-Ghassani (88).
Oman compensated for its loss to its host Kyrgyzstan 0-1 in the second round and achieved its second victory, raising its score to six points and seizing the lead on goal difference from its guest, who suffered the first loss after two successive victories and fell to third place.
Iran honored its guest, Turkmenistan, with a clean score in Tehran in the fifth group.
It is Iran’s second victory in the qualifiers and came after it tied with host Uzbekistan 2-2 in the second round, increasing its lead with seven points on goal difference against the latter, which beat host Hong Kong 2-0.
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