Spanish Marquez Lopez, coach of our national football team, confirmed the readiness of Al-Adam to face his Kyrgyz counterpart tomorrow, Thursday, at Al-Thumama Stadium in the third round of the first group competitions for the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The coach said in the press conference held today: “We realize that we are heading towards an important and pivotal match in the qualifying process, in terms of the inevitability of victory and correcting the course after the previous two matches, but we are confident in the players’ ability to achieve what is required and earn the three points to move forward towards adjusting the situation in the group.”
He added: There is still a long way to go in the qualifiers, as we have 8 matches ahead of us, and we have two chances to directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup from the group, by being in one of the first or second places at the end of the journey. We are confident in the work we are doing despite some of the difficulties we faced in the two matches. The previous two against the UAE and North Korea.
Regarding the changes that occurred to Al-Anabi after the developments witnessed in the list… the coach said that there were circumstances that forced the team to make some changes, as the injuries suffered by some players such as Pedro Miguel and Hammam Al-Amin, in addition to the suspension of the player Tariq Salman due to receiving two yellow cards, indicating in At the same time, some players deserve to be in the ranks of the national team, such as Abdel Karim Hassan, who previously played outside Doha, and since his return from Al-Wakrah gate, he has performed well, while Khoukhi Boualem has appeared at a distinguished level with his club Al-Sadd recently, considering that their invitation to the ranks The team will be an addition in light of the great experience they possess.
The coach also praised the abilities of Al-Duhail player Edmilson Junior, who appeared for the first time with the national team in the previous match against North Korea and participated as a substitute, stressing that the player is of great importance to the national team not only in the next two matches, but during the qualifying campaign as a whole.
Regarding the Kyrgyz competitor, who conceded one goal in the Iran match, and scored two goals against Uzbekistan, the two strong teams in the group, the coach explained: We studied the opponent in the best way and we know the way he plays, and if he scored goals, he also conceded goals. We are ready for all possibilities during the match. The match and we developed solutions to help us achieve our desired goal.
The coach concluded by emphasizing that the current situation should not be an opportunity to put pressure on the players, as the team lost only one match during the last 13 official matches, winning 10 matches and drawing on two occasions, and the players performed at high levels, and therefore we must trust their abilities to provide the best. Levels.
The Uzbek national team leads the standings of Group A with six points, ahead of the Iranian team on goal difference, while the Emirati team occupies third place with 3 points, then the North Korean team comes with one point, ahead of the Qatari team on goal difference, while the Kyrgyz national team occupies last place with no points. .
The first and second teams in each of the three groups in the current stage qualify directly to the 2026 World Cup, reserving six of the eight direct seats available to the Asian Football Confederation, while the two teams ranked third and fourth (six teams) move to the fourth stage, which will witness Distributing the teams into two groups, with matches held in a league system of one round, with the first-place finisher in each group qualifying for the World Cup.
On the other hand, the two teams that finished second in the fourth stage will go on to play a two-legged confrontation, to determine the team that qualifies for the global playoff.