Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Two assists from Qatar’s dangerman Akram Afif undid the UAE in the final group match of the fourth and penultimate stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Doha on Tuesday. UAE managed to pull one back late after Qatar went down to 10 men, but a 2-1 defeat in their Group A clash leaves the Whites desperate as the door shuts on their dreams.
They finished second and will now play Group B runners-up Iraq, after Saudi Arabia booked their spot in the Finals last night. The winner of that runners-up clash in November will enter into an intercontinental play-off for the last remaining of nine spots for Asia in the expanded World Cup in North America.
Afif disappointed on multiple occasions while his teammate Almoez Ali propped up the team’s fortunes, but the roles reversed on the night that mattered. His two freekicks saw Boulame Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel connecting in the 49th and 74th minutes, respectively.
After three attempts wasted by headers from close range, Sultan Adil managed to find the side netting of the far post with the clock ticking halfway past 15 minutes of injury time.
Just minutes earlier, the UAE had got a lifeline of sorts when Tarek Salman’s raised studs caught Erik and the VAR prompted a red card. Adil’s low volley in the 108th minute provided some late drama, but valuable minutes lost to stoppages and time-wasting put paid to any possibility of a precious late equaliser.
Earlier, to the credit of the UAE, who only needed a draw to progress from the 3-team group, they showed enough counter-attacking intent to match that of Qatar, who had drawn their first match Oman, in the first half.
Afif was entrusted with falling back to retrieve the ball and make the occasional run. On the other hand, UAE winger Ali Saleh twisted and turned enough to frustrate the opposition, especially Mohamed Almanai. The latter received a yellow card minutes after he failed to connect a cross for a tap-in goal, the best chance to fall Qatar’s way in the half with four minutes of injury time.
Three minutes into the second half, Khoukhi floated into the centre of the box to intercept Afif’s pinpoint freekick and head in the opener. Twenty-five minutes later, Afif sent in another freekick from the right to the far post. Goalkeeper Khaled Eisa thought the ball would sail over harmlessly and dropped his outstretched arms, but for Pedro to make a timely jump and nod in from a near-zero angle to double the lead.
After Tuesday’s game, the UAE have played their Gulf neighbours 37 times, with Qatar edging the rivalry 15 wins to the UAE’s 12 with 10 draws.
