Qatar has qualified for the second consecutive Men s Football World Cup and Saudi Arabia has advanced to the finals of the Men s Football World Cup for the third consecutive time, entering the

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have successfully joined the ranks of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Qatar national football team won 2-1 in the second match of Group A of the 2026 World Cup Asia Fourth Stage Qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, on the morning of the 15th (below). At this point, Qatar, which drew 0-0 in the first match against Oman on the 9th, surpassed the United Arab Emirates (3 points, 1 win and 1 loss) and Oman (1 point, 1 draw and 1 loss) with 1 win, 1 draw (4 points), ranked first in the group, and successfully qualified for the finals of this World Cup.

Qatar players celebrating a goal.

In the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers, where the participating teams in the finals have been expanded from 32 to 48, 6 teams have already passed the third stage of qualifiers and won direct tickets to the World Cup as the first and second place in the group respectively. These are Iran and Uzbekistan in Group A, South Korea and Jordan in Group B, and Japan and Australia in Group C.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Group A, Iraq and Oman in Group B, and Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in Group C, which ranked third and fourth in each group in the third stage of qualifiers, will compete for additional spots in the finals through this fourth stage of qualifiers. The six countries were divided into two groups, with three teams in each group. They conducted the fourth phase of qualifiers in the same country. The country that ranked first in each group on that day won tickets to the finals.

After failing to score in the first half, Qatar took the lead in the 4th minute of the second half when Kuallam Kuki received a header from Akram Afif's free kick. In the 29th minute of the second half, Pedro Miguel scored with a header from Afif's free kick, further expanding the lead.

Julen Lopetegui, head coach of the Qatar national team.

Qatar fell into a numerical disadvantage when defender Tarek Salman was sent off in the 44th minute of the second half, and got a goal back in the 53rd minute of stoppage time by UAE's Sultan Adil, but ultimately held on to the lead. Qatar has entered the World Cup finals for the second time in a row after participating in the 2022 event for the first time as the host nation. This is the first time they have advanced to the finals through the qualifiers. In the 2022 tournament, they were eliminated in the group stage.

Julen Lopetegui, the Spanish coach who took charge of the Qatar national team in May last year, said through the Qatar Football Association: "We have made great efforts to achieve this goal. We always have faith, and finally we did it." "This is a proud moment for Qatar, fans and players."

The UAE team, which fired Paulo Bento (Portuguese), who coached the South Korean national team in March last year during the third stage of qualifying, and handed the team to Cosmin Olaroiu (Romanian), will need to compete with Iraq, second in Group B, in the fifth round of qualifiers on a home-and-away basis next month to continue its hopes of qualifying for the World Cup. The country that wins the fifth stage of qualifiers will participate in the intercontinental play-offs and get the last chance to challenge and qualify for the World Cup.

In Group B, Saudi Arabia has confirmed its trip to North America. Saudi Arabia drew 0-0 with Iraq in the second match of Group B held at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. However, due to defeating Indonesia 3-2 in the first game, Saudi Arabia ranked first in the group with 4 points (1 win, 1 draw, 3 goals scored and 2 goals conceded).

The Saudi national football team successfully entered the 2026 CONCACAF World Cup finals.

Although Iraq also defeated Indonesia 1-0 and accumulated 4 points (1 win, 1 draw, scored 1 goal and lost 1 goal), it ranked second in the group due to a goal difference disadvantage, so it will have to compete with the United Arab Emirates in the fifth stage of qualifiers. Saudi Arabia has qualified for the World Cup finals for the third consecutive time and the seventh time in total since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Its best record was reaching the top 16 in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where it debuted.

Indonesia, which fired coach Shin Taiyong in January this year and handed the baton of the national team to former Dutch international forward Patrick Kluivert, ended its dream of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time in history with a loss of two games.