Former international players stressed the importance of the Qatari team achieving victory against Uzbekistan the day after tomorrow (Thursday), at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, in the fifth round of the third and decisive round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Qatari team enters the match in fourth place in Group A with 4 points on goal difference ahead of third-placed UAE, while the Iranian team leads with 10 points on goal difference ahead of second-placed Uzbekistan.
Al-Adam began their campaign by losing to the UAE 1-3 at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, before drawing with North Korea 2-2 in Laos, then beating Kyrgyzstan 3-1 at Al Thumama Stadium, then losing to Iran 1-4 in Dubai. .
The former Qatari national team and Al Rayyan club player, Hassan Al-Otaibi, stressed in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) the necessity of achieving victory against Uzbekistan, which he described as crucial and decisive for the competition for one of the two direct qualification cards for the World Cup, noting that the national team has the best elements in the last list, and the former player demanded Al Rayyan Club and the Qatari national team, Spanish coach Marquez Lopez, should focus on enhancing the positives and avoiding the negatives, while working on choosing the appropriate method of play in light of the strength of the competing team that is good at Rebounds and relies on the physical strength and speed of its players to build attacks.
Al-Otaibi explained that coach Bartolomé Márquez Lopez was one of the reasons for the last loss against Iran, in light of his insistence on playing with an advanced defense, which resulted in the presence of gaps that the opposing team used to score four goals, expressing his hope that these mistakes will be corrected by the technical staff and enter the next match against Uzbekistan has a different face, especially since maintaining hope has become conditional on achieving victory in this match.
He added that there are many players who have been performing at high levels in the recent period, led by Akram Afif, Al-Moez Ali, and Edmilson Jr., with the return of some elements to the list, such as Mohamed Muntari and Hammam Al-Amin, which will constitute an important addition to the team in this important stage of the qualifiers.
Al-Otaibi stressed that he has confidence in the team’s ability to provide its best and come up with the desired result against its Uzbek counterpart, to maintain its full chances of qualifying directly for the World Cup, pointing out the importance of victory to enter the match against the UAE in the sixth round on November 19, with a better position in the group’s ranking table. And reducing the points difference with Iran and Uzbekistan, pointing out that holding the match at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium would give the team an advantage given the stadium’s connection to many cities. Qatari football victories over the past years.
For his part, former Qatari national team striker Mishal Abdullah, who played internationally during the period from 2005 to 2015, described the match with the Uzbek national team as pivotal and a task in which there is no alternative to victory in order to correct the path and remain in the competition circle, to snatch one of the two qualification cards for the 2026 World Cup finals, and avoid entering into the competition. Asian playoff calculations, pointing out the importance of reducing the points difference at the top of the group at the end of the first leg.
Mishal Abdullah, who previously represented Al-Ahly, Al-Sailiya, Qatar, Al-Gharafa and Al-Wakrah clubs, said that the results so far for the Qatari team were not up to their ambitions and aspirations, and the point tally was not satisfactory after four matches in the third round of the qualifiers, which requires a quick reaction during the fifth round. To end the stage going well.
He stressed the difficulty of the match in light of the good level the Uzbek national team presented during its past four matches, calling on coach Lopez to be careful and not make the mistakes that accompanied previous matches, especially on the defensive side, pointing out that the national team has distinguished players, headed by Akram Afif and Al-Moez Ali, along with The presence of Admilson and the joining of Muntari, as all of these names will be important options in attack.
He noted the importance of taking advantage of holding the match in Doha to obtain the three points, obtain the winning result and not give the Uzbek team the opportunity to expand the point difference.
For his part, Mr. Mohammed Mubarak Al-Muhannadi, a former player for the Qatari national team, described the upcoming confrontation against Uzbekistan as fateful and of great importance, given that it will restore hope to the team that won the 2023 Asian Cup and preserve its chances within the circle of teams competing for direct promotion tickets to the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Al-Mohannadi added that the confrontation against the Uzbek national team is decisive and crucial on the way to reaching the World Cup finals, as there is no alternative to winning the next match, and obtaining the three points before facing the UAE in the sixth round.
He explained that the technical team, led by Spaniard Bartolomé Márquez Lopez, must deal with the match with great focus and avoid making mistakes, in addition to dealing with caution with the circumstances of the match, especially since the opposing team has many motives to continue its balanced journey in the qualifiers, which imposes the necessity of playing with great realism.
At the end of his statements to QNA, the player Al-Muhannadi stressed the importance of the team regaining the path of victories, considering that obtaining the full score against Uzbekistan will pave the way for entering the match against the UAE in the sixth round with great morale.
On the same level, Abdullah Mubarak, the former Qatari national team player and national coach, did not hide the difficulty of the task that awaits “Al-A’adam” against the Uzbek national team, which showed outstanding levels during the past four rounds, enabling it to occupy second place in the first group standings, equal in number of points with the Iranian national team, which leads the group.
Abdullah Mubarak stressed the need for caution on the part of the Qatari national team players against Uzbekistan, and to play with great realism against a team that cannot be underestimated. He added: “We previously faced the Uzbek national team in the recent Asian Cup finals in Doha, and we faced great difficulties in overcoming them and we succeeded thanks to kicks.” Penalty shootout, which confirms the strength of the opposing team.
Mubarak, who went through many training experiences in the Qatari League with Al-Ahly, Qatar, Al-Khor and Al-Markhiya, pointed out that the responsibility of the technical staff in this match is double in order to play in a balanced manner in the three lines, and not to give the Uzbek national team room to press in the last third of our field to avoid making individual mistakes that It may confuse the calculations.
He stated that earning the three points will be extremely important before heading to meet the UAE national team on the 19th of this month in the sixth round in order to maintain the chances of direct qualification for the World Cup and get close to the first and second places in the group standings.
National coach Abdullah Mubarak concluded his statements to QNA: I believe that there is no alternative to winning the Uzbekistan match, given that any other result will make the task difficult for our national team. I believe that we have the ability to achieve the six points in the next two matches through the presence of many elements of experience as well as Benefiting from the glow of the best player in Asia, Akram Afif, alongside Almoez Ali.
It is noteworthy that the 18 teams qualified for the current stage were distributed into three groups, each group includes six teams competing in a divided league system of two round-robin stages, and the first and second teams from each group qualify directly to the World Cup. While the third and fourth of each group will reach the fourth round, which will witness the teams being divided into two groups, each group containing three teams, the first in each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the second-place finishers will compete in a continental playoff to qualify for the global playoff.