Qatar participated in the 2022 World Cup as the tournament host, but the 2026 tournament will be their first appearance through the qualification route.
Published October 14, 2025
Qatar qualified for soccer’s 2026 World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates thanks to second-half headers from Boualem Kuki and Pedro Miguel.
This will be the first time that Qatar has advanced through the qualifying rounds, having lost all three of their group stage matches when the tournament was held in 2022.
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With this victory, Qatar took first place in Group A in the fourth round of Asian qualifying, ahead of second place United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will advance to the fifth round and playoffs. Oman finished 3rd in the group and was eliminated.
Qatar’s best chance of the first half came in the 30th minute, when Mohamed Al Mannai’s header went just wide of the UAE goal.
Two minutes into the second half, Houki took the lead when he headed Akram Afif’s free kick past goalkeeper Khalid Essa. With 17 minutes remaining, Afif delivered a cross from the left that Pedro Miguel headed in at the far post for the goal.
Tarek Salman was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute, reducing Qatar to 10 men. Eight minutes into the 15 minutes of extra points, UAE scored with Sultan Adil’s shot from inside the area, ending a tense match. Had it been a draw, UAE would have won.
Japan and South Korea, who have already qualified for next year’s World Cup, won a friendly match against the South American team on Tuesday.
Japan fought from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 in Tokyo, marking their first victory over Brazil. Ayase Ueda scored the winning goal with a header in the 71st minute.
South Korea defeated Paraguay 2-0 in Seoul.
