Latest news with #AsianQualifiers
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
Uzbekistan coach says historic World Cup spot for ‘our entire people'
Uzbekistan's coach Timur Kapadze (left) celebrates with his players after the match against UAE at Al Nahyan stadium. (Uzbekistan FA pic) ABU DHABI : Uzbekistan's coach said 'this victory belongs to all of us' after steering the Central Asian nation to the World Cup for the first time in their history. A 0-0 draw at the United Arab Emirates on Thursday was enough to seal the landmark with a game to go in Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in North America. The expansion of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams has given traditional outsiders such as Uzbekistan the chance to break into the top ranks of world football. 'We have come a long way and achieved an important result,' their coach Timur Kapadze said, according to the Asian Football Confederation. 'We congratulate our entire people and our president. This victory belongs to all of us. 'Yesterday and today the phone calls have not stopped.' Uzbekistan started competing as an independent nation in the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Backed by state funding, Uzbekistan are one of Asia's fastest-developing footballing nations. They are ranked 57th in the world. 'Everyone said they would support us and pray for us, the wishes for victory were a great inspiration for us,' said Kapadze, who replaced Srecko Katanec as head coach in January. AdChoices ADVERTISING 'My players showed determination in every game, they did their best, and that is why we achieved the result.' Footage shared on social media showed the players, draped in national flags, mobbing Kapadze in the press room after getting the point they needed. Uzbekistan are second behind also qualified Iran in Group A with five wins, three draws and one defeat. They play their final qualifier on Tuesday home to Qatar in the capital Tashkent.
Arab News
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host football World Cup playoffs
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation said on Friday. The third and fourth-placed teams from the qualifiers that ended last week — Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar and the UAE — will form two groups of three teams and play from Oct. 8 to 14. The draw will take place on July 17. Group winners will take the two remaining automatic places at the World Cup finals in the US, Canada and Mexico. The runners-up from each group will play two matches on Nov. 13 and 18, with the winners qualifying for the inter-confederation playoffs Meanwhile this year's Saudi Super Cup featuring Al-Ittihad, Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr will be held in Hong Kong, football chiefs said on Friday. Matches will take place from Aug. 19-23 at the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium. 'This represents a qualitative shift for the tournament, which has achieved remarkable success,' Saudi Football Federation secretary general Ibrahim Al-Qassim said.
Malay Mail
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host Asian playoffs for 2026 World Cup as six teams battle for final spots
KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said today. Six teams, the third and fourth-placed sides from the recent Asian qualifiers, namely Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, will be divided into two groups of three teams. They will battle each other in a centralised format from October 8 to 14, 2025, the AFC said in a statement. The group winners will secure the two remaining automatic berths at the World Cup. The draw for the next round is scheduled for July 17. The runners-up from each group will play two matches on November 13 and 18, with the winners qualifying for the inter-confederation playoffs for the World Cup. Asian federations had requested that the Asian playoff matches be held on neutral ground. — AFP
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kluivert tells Indonesia to learn from Japan thrashing in World Cup hunt
Patrick Kluivert has taken Indonesia to the fourth round of Asian qualifiers for next year's World Cup (PAUL MILLER) Patrick Kluivert told his wounded Indonesia side they must learn from their embarrassing 6-0 thrashing by Japan as they attempt to reach the World Cup for the first time as an independent country. Indonesia's dreams of appearing at their first finals since gaining independence in 1945 are still alive after they finished fourth in Asian qualifying Group C. Advertisement They join Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Asian champions Qatar in October's fourth qualifying round, with the draw to be made next month. The winners of the two three-team groups will advance to next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Netherlands and Barcelona great Kluivert admitted that Group C winners Japan were "a size too big" for his team in Osaka on Tuesday. "We need to learn from this big defeat," said the 48-year-old, who took over midway through the third qualifying round. "We're very disappointed, of course, but we have to be prepared for the fourth round, and for me now the most important thing is to look back post-match, learn from it and look forward to the fourth round." Advertisement Indonesia were already guaranteed a place in the fourth round after beating China 1-0 in Jakarta last week. They were outclassed by a Japan team who booked their World Cup place with three games to spare and ended the third round with 30 goals from 10 matches. Kluivert was not helped by a first-half injury to forward Kevin Diks, whose replacement Yakob Sayuri was then substituted 15 minutes later after a clash of heads. Kluivert said Japan were too good for Indonesia but they had to "admit this and carry on". "We tried our best but it wasn't enough," he said. "It was the quality of the players that Japan has in this team. We can talk a lot about it but that's the fact, that Japan was a size too big for us this evening." amk/pst
The National
10-06-2025
- Sport
- The National
UAE finish World Cup qualification round with frustrating draw in Kyrgyzstan
The UAE ended the latest phase of the convoluted Asian qualifying process for the 2026 World Cup in frustration as they were held to a draw by Kyrgyzstan. Kai Merk struck an equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time at the end of the game, to cancel out Harib Abdallah's first-half strike for the national team. It was a second draw in the final five days of round three of the qualifiers, and a drab way for the rejigged national team to sign off. Cosmin Olaroiu, the UAE coach, had said on the eve of the game in Bishkek that the fixture would be a test of the players' character. Not in the same way as Thursday night's game against Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi. Automatic qualification for the World Cup had been riding on that, so full focus was a given then. This was the inverse. The game was essentially meaningless: the UAE were already confirmed in the next phase of qualifying – a play-off in October – while Kyrgyzstan's qualifying hopes were already at an end. So, with nothing to play for, which players would still give everything they had? For whom would just wearing the national team colours be enough? There was good reason for most them to give their best. Olaroiu had shuffled his pack from Thursday. There were a couple of reasons for that. Most dramatically, two players – Khalid Al Dhanhani and Sultan Adil – had been thrown out for misconduct. Others were injured, while Olaroiu also had his mind on another disciplinary issue. He was wary that a number of players were at risk of second yellow cards which would rule them out of the first game of October's play-offs. Those who came in would have been looking to prove they were worthy of being first-choice starters. Abdallah, for one, had missed out on the starting XI against the Uzbeks, having been a key man under the reign of Paulo Bento, Olaroiu's predecessor. The young forward looked sharp from the off, and was rewarded for his industry with the opening goal. On the half-hour Luan Pereira won possession and threaded a pass through to Abdallah, and he made no mistake with the finish. Clearly, he had won his coach's attention: two minutes later, he limped to the sideline with a knock, and he got an affectionate pat on his head from Olaroiu while he was there. On the balance of play, the away side probably deserved the lead, but they still might have gone into the interval level. In the fourth minute of stoppage time at the end of the half, there was a lengthy VAR review. After a tense wait, during which Luan had to be separated from some Kyrgyz players, the referee upheld his original decision of no penalty, but only after an offside had been spotted. Just over 12,000 were at the Dolon Omurzakov Stadium to watch. Tellingly, that was 3,000 more than made it to the Al Nahyan Stadium five nights earlier when qualification was on the line for the UAE. The Kyrgyz fans seemed happy for a night out, even with nothing riding on it for their national team. And it proved to be worth the wait for the home faithful, who roared with delight when Merk fired home his late leveller.
