Three wins and one draw under the helm of newly appointed Czech head coach Jaroslav Silhavy saw Oman topping the group ahead of Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei and national team director Waleed Alnoumani said the focus will be on maintaining their form in the third round. 

“For now, our focus will be entirely on improving our own performance and scrutinising all the areas where we are lacking. Only when we are satisfied with ourselves will we turn our attention to our rivals,” said Alnoumani. 

“Having said that, our mission has become a lot clearer now that we know what exactly awaits us in the months to come. Football is always full of surprises and we can’t predict what’s about to happen. As things stand, I think we have a good enough chance.” 

Appearing in the third round of the AFC Asian Qualifiers for the second successive edition, the West Asian side will be eager to improve on their 2022 results, where they narrowly missed out on a spot in the fourth round to Australia. 

With Oman opening their campaign against Iraq on September 5, Alnoumani is positive about the outcome should the preparations for the next stage go smoothly. 

“Like every other team, we also have a plan in place, which we are working on very carefully. We will start a training camp in Spain very soon and hopefully, be ready in time for our first match against Iraq.”