Qatar qualifies for the World Cup for the second time in its history… and the UAE qualifies for the playoffs
In an exciting match on its home soil and among its fans, the Qatari team succeeded in defeating its Emirati counterpart by two goals to one in the Asian play-off match, officially confirming its qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals.
The match started with relative calm, but in the second half, Annabi’s ambition was clearly evident, in the 49th minute, when Akram Afif passed a perfect ball to Boualem Khoukhi inside the area. penalty; He put it firmly into the net and scored the first goal for Qatar.
Then in the 74th minute, Afif took advantage of the same intelligence to pass a cross to Pedro Miguel Correa, who fired a powerful shot from inside the area, hugging the net, announcing the second goal and the difference.
But the match also witnessed a dramatic moment, when the Qatari was sent off. Tariq Salman after a violent intervention, which forced the team to be cautious in the remaining minutes.
The UAE team took advantage of this numerical deficiency to apply pressure, and succeeded in scoring the honorable goal by Sultan Adel Al Amiri, but that was not enough to return to the match.
With that result, Qatar’s score rose to 4 points in the playoff, To obtain the qualification card for the 2026 World Cup, in an achievement added to the history of Annabi.
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