Today's Edition
KUALA LUMPUR (WAM)
The United Arab Emirates were drawn to take on Qatar and Oman in the fourth phase of Asia's preliminaries for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday.
The winners of each of the three-team groups, which will be played in October, will join already-qualified Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran and Jordan at next year's expanded 48-nation finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Saudi Arabia will host Group A and open against Indonesia on October 8.
Indonesia will then play Graham Arnold's Iraq on October 11 before the Saudis and Iraq face off on October 14.
Group B hosts Qatar, organisers of the 2022 World Cup, will take on Oman in their first game on October 8. UAE will face Oman on October 11, with Qatar and the UAE meeting on October 14.
The nations finishing in second place in each group will advance to a further round of qualifying, which will be held over two legs in November on a home-and-away basis.
