October 16 – The second international window of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup has seen old stagers and emerging nations stake a claim for a spot in the finals to be jointly held in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Otabek Shukurov’s late penalty against the UAE ensured Uzbekistan maintained their unbeaten start to Group A, sharing the top spot with Iran who overwhelmed Asian Cup Champions Qatar 4-1. Only the top two teams qualify automatically for the 2026 finals.
Uzbekistan have never qualified for the World Cup finals and they left it late for a crucial win over 10-man United Arab Emirates in Tashkent. The UAE have World Cup ambition of their having narrowly missed out on qualification on a number of occasions.
Local rivals Qatar, who majestically retained their Asian Cup Champions title in February, have suddenly seen that form plummet and are equal with the UAE on four points after four matches, but six points behind the top two.
Qatar took the lead against Iran through an Almoez Ali goal, but after going in level were dismantled in by three Iranian second-half goals. Sardar Azmoun and Mohammed Mohebbi both scored twice for the Iranians.
In Group B South Korea established a three point lead at the top of the group with wins over their nearest rivals Jordan and Iraq.
Jordan, who were surprise Asian Cup finalists earlier in the year, losing to three Qatar penalties in the final in Lusail, have continued their Asian Cup form into the qualifiers. Iraq, who exited the Asian Cup angrily, have returned on a mission. Jordan have never qualified for a World Cup while Iraq have not made the finals since 1986.
Group C saw Japan dropped their first points in a 1-1 draw with Australia, but still top the group five points ahead of nearest rivals Australia and Saudi Arabia who both have four points.
Saudi Arabia could have closed the gap on Japan to three points but only managed a 0-0 draw with Bahrain.
It was a good international window for the Aussies and their new coach Tony Popovich, who after the first two rounds were a long way out of contention with just one point. Two games later they are back in the hunt.
The top two in each group qualify for 2026 automatically with the six third and fourth placed teams qualifying for a fourth round of three groups of three to be played at a centralised venue. The three group winners qualify for the World Cup while the runners up advance to the inter-continental play offs.
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