Qatar held to a goalless draw by Oman

alt
October 8, 2025
footabll
feed type icon
8-October-2025

Qatar held to a goalless draw by Oman

Doha: Hosts Qatar were held to a goalless draw by Oman in the opening Group A tie of the fourth/playoffs round of the Asian qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Wednesday.

Qatar pushed hard and came close on a couple of occasions but were kept at bay by the solid defence of Oman. With 1-point each now, both Qatar and Oman will face the United Arab Emirates in their second clash with Oman playing first on Sunday, and UAE meeting Qatar three days later on Tuesday.

Only the group winner will earn an automatic qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2026 to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

At the post-match conference, Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui termed Oman’s defence as stubborn.

“We performed well throughout the match against a stubborn team that defended well and closed down spaces. Despite that, we created several opportunities but couldn’t convert them into goals,” the Spaniard lamented.

He also felt that the best players were on the field. “The starting lineup was ideal given the injuries, and all the players gave their best to achieve the desired result. When you have the chances and you are unable to take advantage, then you have to be humble and compete hard. It means that on the day that you can’t win, you have to avoid to lose. Today we had the right mentality, so we have one point. We have the half of the competition. We have to recover well and to face the next challenge.”

Were Qatar less offensive? “I repeat we have to analyze how much and how much means how you attack and how you defend. I think that we defended really. I think that the team will show good maturity a little bit. We are in competition. We have to recover well. I think we don’t talk about what we missed, we have to put focus on the things that are really well.

“We will continue to pursue our dream of qualifying for the World Cup. Today’s draw against Oman hasn’t negatively impacted the team or added pressure ahead of the UAE match on October 14.”

Qatar face a big challenge against UAE but the coach hoped that his side would be up to the task.

“I trust in the team, in their work. I think, they are working really well. We have a big, big enormous challenge in front of us. A big dream and when you are following one dream there is nothing else (of qualifying for the World Cup). This is the dream you have to realize. So we have to continue with what we have now. It is time to recover well and to think about the next match,” stressed Lopetegui.

Oman’s highly-experienced coach Carlos Queiroz said that the stalemate was the best result for both sides. “We performed well and managed to stop Qatar’s attacks, which we expected given they were playing at home,” said Queiroz.

“We knew the match would be tough, so we played with high spirit. Despite our solid defense, we also created chances but couldn’t score. A draw is the best result for both teams today. A loss would have hurt our chances of World Cup qualification. We don’t have much time before facing the UAE, but we’ll prepare well to keep our World Cup dream alive.”

Quieroz also appreciated Qatar’s play but added that Oman also deserves fans’ respect for the way they played today. “Qatar make great efforts in the game, different moments. It is the beauty of Qatar to start the game on a strong note. We knew that this is the style of Qatar when they start briskly, they go against every single team. We build up our strategy to make a contention, stop them, create a fear factor on them. We cut all the solutions that usually they use to win matches. And when we created that frustration, it was when our players began to play better and better, control the game, and we start to create our chances.

“I think the result is fair, more than fair. But one thing again, I saw my boys. They deserve our respect. They deserve that the fans are proud of them.”

Earlier the coaches were more exemplified with their gestures on the field. Lopetegui threw his hands out in desperation when Boualem Khoukhi missed an early chance in the 13th minute being off target.

Qatar’s Sultan Al Brake and Edmílson Junior also pushed early but with no success.

Oman tested Qatar’s debutant goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada in the 27th minute when Issam Al Sabhi skipped made a powerful left-footed shot but it was well held by the custodian.

Qatar almost capitalized six minutes later when Mohammad Al Mannai slipped a clever ball through to Akram Afif, who tried to catch Oman napping but Thani Al Rushaidi was up to the task with a solid intervention.

Nasser Al Rawahi came close to finding the opener for Oman after seeing his glancing header whisk over the bar off a corner, while Qatar’s push for goal in the closing stages of the half came from Afif, whose effort was easily dealt by the Omani defence.

Afif came knocking on Oman’s door again four minutes after the restart, bursting through the centre and weaving past defenders before cutting inside the box on his favourite right foot, only to drag his effort just wide.

Oman almost caused problems for Julen Lopetegui’s side on 69 minutes when Abunada rushed off his line to clear a cross into the box and in doing so left his goal exposed but Abdullah Fawaz could not find the target from distance.

Almoez Ali came on in the 57th minute for Ahmed Al Ganehi but couldn’t inspire Qatar tovictory as the teams settled for a share of the spoils.