Doha: Former players praised Qatar's national team's achievement in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, following Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the UAE at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in the third round of the fourth round of the Asian qualifiers.
According to Qatar News Agency, Qatar's national team booked its place in the World Cup finals after topping Group A in the fourth round with four points, following a goalless draw with Oman and a victory over the UAE.
Former Qatar national team player Khalid Salman stated that qualifying for the World Cup is a national dream, after the team displayed a high level of technical skill in its match against the UAE, enabling it to come away with the three points that secured it a direct place in the major global event.
He indicated that qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is the result of years of continuous work, during which the Qatari national team won the Asian Cup twice, in 2019 and 2023, thanks to a brilliant generation of players who have culminated their current efforts by qualifying for the World Cup.
Salman pointed out that the challenge was immense and that concerted efforts were made possible by the presence of an administrative body that worked to prepare the players and the fans, who played a major role in providing support and encouragement on the field. These efforts resulted in a new achievement for Qatari football.
In turn, former Qatari national team player Mubarak Mustafa noted that Qatar presented its best level in its two matches in the fourth round of the Asian qualifiers against Oman and the UAE, pointing out that the team was able to secure the ticket to qualify for the World Cup finals thanks to the high fighting spirit and superiority on the field, whether in terms of defensive performance or offensive performance, after it managed to score two goals and concede one goal in the two matches.
He pointed out that such crucial qualifiers required a great deal of focus, and that the experience of the players, who had previously won the Asian Cup twice, played a significant role in achieving the desired result during the final match against the UAE, which was difficult and against a strong team.
Mubarak Mustafa congratulated the Qatari fans who strongly supported the team during the previous match, stressing that the fans played a significant role in backing the players and helping the team impose a clear advantage over their rivals.
For his part, former Qatari national team player Raed Yaqoub affirmed that Qatar was able to accomplish its mission of qualifying for the World Cup in an exemplary manner, after the team demonstrated its best capabilities during the previous match against its UAE counterpart, both offensively and defensively.
He added that the team handled the fourth-round competition well, completing the mission to advance to the World Cup finals without having to deal with any further complicated calculations leading up to the next knockout round.
The former Qatari national team player emphasized that the technical staff, led by Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui, handled the two matches well, noting that big matches require small details and individual abilities to come up with solutions.
Qatar has secured its place in the 2026 World Cup, becoming the seventh Asian team to qualify for the tournament, joining Saudi Arabia, which also qualified, as the eighth Asian team.
The number of Arab teams qualifying for the World Cup has risen to seven: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia.