Spanish coach Bartolome Marquez Lopez, the technical director of the Qatari national football team, announced today the call-up of the duo Ahmed Al-Rawi and Edmilson Junior to the list that will face the North Korean national team on September 10 in Laos, in the second round of Group A matches in the third and decisive stage qualifying for the 2026 World Cup finals, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Qatari team, which lost the opening match against its Emirati counterpart by one goal to three in Doha, is in sixth and last place in the group without points, equal with the North Korean and Kyrgyz teams, while the Emirati team is in first place with 3 points, ahead of the Uzbekistan and Iranian teams on goal difference.
The Qatari national team will head to Laos tomorrow, Sunday, to meet the North Korean national team next Tuesday in the second round, where it will undergo a training session upon arrival before performing its main and final training session the day after tomorrow, Monday, on the match field.
The Qatari team seeks to correct its course and restore balance by returning with the three points and achieving its first victory in this stage before hosting its Kyrgyz counterpart on October 10.
The 2023 Asian Cup champion will then continue its journey in the qualifiers, heading to Tehran to face its Iranian counterpart on the 15th of the same month, before hosting the Uzbek national team on November 14 at the end of the first leg.
The team will start the second leg by facing the host, the UAE, on November 19, before hosting its North Korean counterpart on March 20, 2025, then facing its host, Kyrgyzstan, on the 25th of the same month, before returning to host the Iranian team on June 5, 2025, before concluding the second leg of the third stage by meeting the Uzbek team in Tashkent on the 10th of the same month.
The top two teams in each group qualify directly for the World Cup finals, while two more places are available through the play-offs (fourth round) of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with an additional opportunity available through the global play-off.
