HIBAPRESS – Sports
The Qatar national team has officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup, marking the team's second qualification after its first participation in the 2022 edition hosted in Doha.
The qualification came after Al-Annabi's victory over the United Arab Emirates national team with a score of 2-1 in the second match of Group A of the Asian play-off qualifying for the World Cup. Boualem Khoukhi opened the scoring in the 48th minute, before Pedro Miguel added the second goal for Qatar in the 74th minute, confirming the control of the match's events. The match saw the expulsion of Qatar player Tariq Salman in the 89th minute, while Sultan Al-Ameri reduced the score for the UAE with a goal in the 98th minute, but it was not enough to change the result of the match. With this victory, the Qatar national team topped its group with 4 points, one point ahead of the UAE, to secure a direct qualification ticket from Group A in the Asian play-off, while the second ticket in Group B will be determined between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
