World Cup 2026 Qualifying: Almoez double sees Qatar progress

Qatar advanced to the third phase of Asia's 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, defeating Kuwait 2-1, while Iran, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates joined Australia and Iraq in advancing.

Almoez Ali twice put Marquez Lopez's Asian Cup holders ahead in Kuwait City, maintaining his team's perfect record in Group A and securing first place in the standings after India lost 2-1 to Afghanistan.

The top two from each of the nine groups advance to the continent's third round of qualifiers for the finals in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, where Asia will have eight guaranteed spots in the 48-team tournament.

Uzbekistan also confirmed their place in the third round with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong in Tashkent, with goals from Eldor Shomurodov, Hojimat Erkinov, and Oston Urunov securing one of the two Group E berths.

They will be joined in the next round by Iran, both of whom have 10 points after Mehdi Ghayedi scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Turkmenistan in Ashgabat.

Fabio Lima scored twice to lead the UAE through from Group H, defeating Yemen 3-0 in the Saudi Arabian city of Khobar, while Bahrain strengthened their grip on second place with a 3-0 win over Nepal.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, will have to wait until their match against Jordan on June 6 for another chance to advance to the next round, after Tajikistan's Rustam Soirov equalised in the 80th minute to draw 1-1 with Roberto Mancini's side.

The Saudis would have qualified with a win in Dushanbe, but Jordan still leads Group G by three points after defeating Pakistan 7-0 in Amman.

Kyrgyzstan and Oman are tied for first place in Group D with nine points each after Kyrgyzstan defeated visitors Taiwan 5-1 and the Omanis defeated hosts Malaysia 2-0 in Kuala Lumpur.

Syria defeated Myanmar 7-0 to move within two points of Group B leaders Japan, whose meeting with North Korea was canceled after the secretive state announced last week that it would not host Hajime Moriyasu's team in Pyongyang.

Earlier in the day, Iraq and Australia advanced to the next round with 5-0 wins over the Philippines and Lebanon, respectively.

Iraq are almost certain to finish in the top two of Group F, where they lead Indonesia by five points following Shin Tae-yong's 3-0 victory over Vietnam.

Australia will advance from Group I ahead of Palestine, who won 1-0 against Bangladesh.

Son Heung-min scored as South Korea defeated Thailand 3-0 in Bangkok to maintain its three-point lead in Group C over China, who moved into second place with a 4-1 victory over Singapore.

SportsLigue