Having come excruciatingly close to booking a place in the fourth round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers after finishing one point behind Australia in the third round, Oman once again have foundations in place to mount a strong challenge to try and secure their first-ever appearance in the tournament.

 

Oman began their qualification campaign under Branko Ivankovic, who previously led Islamic Republic of Iran to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and ended it with Jaroslav Silhavy in charge of the team, but that did not affect their displays on the field as four wins and a draw proved enough for them to win Group D.

 

Opening with a 3-0 win against Chinese Taipei, Oman fell to a 1-0 loss to Kyrgyz Republic next, but consecutive 2-0 victories against Malaysia saw them tie the Kyrgyz at the summit. Oman took a two-point lead during the next matchday as Abdulrahman Al Mushaifri’s hat-trick saw them beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 and they preserved that advantage after a 1-1 draw with Kyrgyz Republic on the final day to finish top. 

Along with Indonesia and Palestine, Kyrgyz Republic are among the three sides who will make their debut in the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but their historic campaign began not in the best of terms on Matchday One in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Stefan Tarkovic’s side were 3-1 up with 18 minutes remaining, but a late resurgence from Malaysia saw them suffer a 4-3 loss. The Kyrgyz, however, bounced back with a statement 1-0 victory against Oman before back-to-back wins over Chinese Taipei put them firmly in contention for a place in the third round – with Malaysia trailing three points behind.

 

Gulzhigit Alykulov gave the Kyrgyz the lead against Malaysia on Matchday Five, but the Southeast Asians fought back to rescue a point, but their progress was all but confirmed heading into the final game. A 1-1 draw against Oman secured Kyrgyz Republic’s historic berth in the third round where the White Falcons will hope to soar again.

Islamic Republic of Iran’s bid to reach the FIFA World Cup Finals for the fourth consecutive time began in style as they went through the second round unbeaten and pipped Uzbekistan to finish top of Group E, thanks to a superior goal difference.

 

Amir Ghalenoei’s side began with a 4-0 defeat of Hong Kong, China with Sardar Azmoun bagging a double while they also got a resounding 5-0 win against Turkmenistan on Matchday Three. Mehdi Taremi, meanwhile, was the star, hitting a hat-trick in a 4-2 defeat of Hong Kong in their fifth outing and finished the campaign with five goals.

 

Team Melli only dropped points in two stalemates with Uzbekistan and will now hope to continue their purple patch to make it to the 2026 edition where they will be desperate to reach the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup for the very first time. 

After failing to clear the second round during the 2022 qualifiers four years earlier, Uzbekistan went unbeaten in six matches to progress to the third round this time around, after going toe-to-toe with Iran in Group E.

 

Srecko Katanec’s side began their qualification campaign with a 3-1 away win against Turkmenistan and then came back from two goals down to hold three-time Asian champions Iran to a 2-2 draw in Tashkent. Eldor Shomurodov was on the scoresheet on both occasions as the Uzbeks got the better of Hong Kong, China 2-0 and 3-0 in their meetings in March.

 

Oston Urunov netted his third goal of the second round as the White Wolves defeated Turkmenistan 3-1 in their penultimate match before they shared the spoils with Iran in the final outing to finish level on points with Team Melli and punch their ticket to the next phase. 

Iraq’s only previous appearance at the FIFA World Cup came in the 1986 edition hosted by Mexico. With the tournament returning to North America in under two years’ time, the Lions of Mesopotamia proved in the second round that they may have what it takes to grab one of Asia’s spots at the expanded showpiece tournament.

 

In fact, Jesus Casas’ side were one of the only three sides – Australia and Japan being the other two – to win all six of their outings, dominating a Group F featuring Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The West Asian side scored 17 goals and conceded just twice in the process.

 

Iraq’s bag of results included big wins, like the 5-1 defeat of Indonesia in the opener and a 5-0 victory against the Philippines, and narrow 1-0 victories against Vietnam and the Philippines where Mohanad Ali scored late on both occasions. With the road to the FIFA World Cup only getting tougher, Casas’ side will hope to step up even further and end their 40-year wait. 

It was a historic moment for Indonesian football when they secured a 2-0 win against the Philippines on Matchday Six as a crowd of almost 65,000 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta witnessed their nation move closer to a spot in the FIFA World Cup as they aim to advance to the competition for the first time since appearing as the Dutch East Indies in 1938.

 

Hopes of making it to the third round for the very first time looked bleak for Shin Tae-yong’s side after the opening set of fixtures, as Indonesia suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat to Iraq before settling for a 1-1 draw against the Philippines. But a 1-0 win against fellow ASEAN side Vietnam, courtesy of an Egy Maulana Vikri goal, and a 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture in Hanoi five days later saw them perfectly placed to progress.

 

A 2-0 defeat at the hands of Iraq on the penultimate matchday saw Tim Garuda go into their final fixture with only a one-point advantage over the Vietnamese, but goals from Thom Haye and Rizky Ridho secured the win against the Philippines and a place in the third round.