List of the 7 Arab teams qualifying for the 2026 World Cup

The Saudi and Qatari national teams increased the historic Arab participation in the 2026 World Cup finals in football to seven teams so far, after clinching their tickets after Al-Akhdar tied negatively against Iraq and Al-Anabi won over the Emirates 2-1 in the third round of the Asian qualifiers.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar joined five Arab teams that previously qualified: Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.
In Jeddah, the Saudi national team topped the second group competitions with 4 points, superior on goal difference to Iraq, which finished second, and will play a decisive match against the UAE, runner-up in the first group, to determine who qualifies between them for the global playoff.
Firas Al-Braikan said about qualifying for the third consecutive finals, “It was a difficult match, but we accomplished what we wanted. Congratulations to the Saudi fans who did not leave us tonight.”
The match took place at Al-Jawhara Stadium in Jeddah, in the presence of approximately 60,000 spectators, and witnessed clear technical superiority for Al-Akhdar, after controlling the midfield. However, it did not result in any dangerous attack on goalkeeper Jalal Hassan in the first half, in light of the high concentration followed by the defense line, which accurately dealt with the attacks of Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, Salem Al-Dosari, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, and Firas Al-Braikan in an optimal manner.
Qatar qualified for the finals for the second time in its history and the first through the qualifiers after defeating its host UAE 2-1 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.
Boualem Khoukhi (49) and Pedro Miguel (74) advanced for Qatar, which completed the match with ten players after the expulsion of its substitute player, Tariq Mohamed (89), and the UAE reduced the gap through substitute Sultan Adel (90 + 8).
Khoukhi Boualem, captain of the Qatari national team and the best player in the match, said: “Our joy is indescribable after we accomplished the difficult task and achieved what was required with a well-deserved victory that gave us the historic qualification card to the World Cup.”
He added, “We experienced tremendous pressure after the draw in the first match against Oman, and the victory of the UAE team, which was sufficient for a draw, but we were on time and up to the challenge.”
In turn, veteran Hassan Al-Haydos said, “I am unable to express this defining moment in the history of Qatari football. We achieved qualification that seemed very difficult due to the great pressure we experienced in the past days, specifically since the draw with the Omani national team.”
He added, returning from international retirement, “With all due respect to all previous generations in Qatari football, I believe that this is the historic generation that achieved the 2019 and 2023 Asian Cup titles, and qualified for the World Cup through qualifiers for the first time.”
Qatar topped the standings of Group A with 4 points and qualified for the World Cup for the second time after the 2022 edition as a host country when it suffered three losses in the group stage.
As for the UAE, which fell to second place with 3 points, it maintained its chances of ascending to the World Cup for the second time after 1990 in Italy, when it was also eliminated from the first round, after qualifying for the Asian playoff against Iraq.

List of Arab teams that will participate in the 2026 World Cup so far:
Jordan (first to qualify…first participation)
Morocco (qualification was decided early)
Egypt (participating for the fourth time)
Tunisia (qualified for the seventh time)
Algeria (qualified for the fifth time)
Qatar (participating for the second time…and the first through the qualifiers)
Saudi Arabia (qualified for the seventh time)