Source: Shangguan News
Beijing time on the morning of October 12, 2026, the fourth stage of the fourth stage of the Asian region preparation match ended the second round.Oman team of Group A with 1 to 2 was reversed by the UAE team, no chance to go straight to the United Arab Emirates World Cup, only hope to win the next round of the UAE host Qatar team two goals and more, only have the opportunity to fight for an intercontinental additional place.B group Iraqi team 1 to 0 Rick Indonesia team, the latter two defeat in advance, with 3 points Saudi Arabia and Iraq team will be in the final round of the competition group title, the town home Saudi team to play the World Cup.
The competition for the last two World Cup tickets in the Asian region has entered the final phase, and the suspension will be revealed on the morning of October 15 Beijing time, but this outcome is likely to be accompanied by a twist.
First of all, the choice of venue. According to the competition regulations issued by the AFC in July 2023, the fourth stage of qualifiers will be hosted by the third of the two groups with the best results in the top 18. If this is taken as the standard, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, which scored 15 points in the quarter-finals, will automatically become the hosts. However, after the quarter-finals in June this year, the AFC directly announced that Qatar and Saudi Arabia had won the right to host the two groups of the quarter-finals without any explanation. This move triggered protests from Indonesia, Iraq, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, demanding that the competition be moved to a neutral venue, but the AFC never responded. Queiroz, the famous coach who coaches Oman, publicly expressed his dissatisfaction, questioning why Qatar, an opponent in the same group, can enjoy the home court advantage instead of choosing neutral venues such as "Japan or Kuwait". "Perhaps the organizers of the tournament have a different understanding of football".
In addition, the AFC is also "well-intentioned" in determining the seed team. The draw ceremony for the quarter-finals held on July 17 adopted the world rankings released by FIFA a month ago. Saudi Arabia ranked 58th at the time, followed by Iraq ranking 59th. However, if we refer to the latest ranking before the draw, Iraq has surpassed Saudi Arabia and should have become the seed team. The seeded teams in the top six have obvious schedule advantages-at this stage, each group has three teams, and one team must be vacant in each round; the seeded teams are all vacant in the second round, with an interval of seven days between the two games, while the other four teams have to face an intensive schedule of three days and two games. The Qatar team and Saudi team not only have the right time, place and people, but also rely on their seed status to wait for work and be protected by their dual advantages.
The Indonesian side also questioned the FIFA’s selection of referees.In the first round of the match against Saudi Arabia, the FIFA appointed a team of referees from Kuwait.Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are neighbors, and the two countries are closely linked in politics, economy, culture, sports, etc. The FIFA arrangement inevitably raises concerns about the neutrality of referees.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia are now the biggest Asian countries investing in football, not only in domestic leagues, but also hosted a series of important events – the former successfully hosted the 2022 World Cup, the latter won the right to host the 2034 World Cup; from the two Asian Cups in 2023 and 2027, to the two U23 Asian Cups in 2024 and 2026, then to the Elite League elimination and four consecutive U17 Asian Cups in 2025 to 2028, many major Asian events in recent years are under contract by the two countries.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar, on the other hand, are also important “gilders” of the FIFA and the AFC. Saudi Arabia National Petroleum Company (Aramco) and Qatar Airways are both official partners of the FIFA; in June this year, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) agreed a long-term partnership with the FIFA to become the main sponsor of the new FIFA World Cup. At the same time, Qatar Airways and the AFC sponsorship agreement will last until 2029, covering the men’s and women’s Asian Cup, the five-person Asian Football Championship and a number of youth events. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have established a power relationship within the FIFA and the FIFA, and the two presidents are members of the FIFA Council (a total of six people in Asia, including only one in East Asia).
The World Cup Asia Pre-season was held in Doha in 1994, but Qatar was not a competition team, and Saudi Arabia and South Korea finally won the only two World Cup seats in Asia. Since then, as the Asia Pre-season was gradually increasing, the AFC has repeatedly adjusted the pre-season system, whether the Top Ten or the Twelve, or the Top Eighteen, taking the main field double cycle system, avoiding disputes such as the field. Today, Asia has 8.5 outline seats, the World Pre-season was held for two years, and has incorporated a portion of the Asian Cup Pre-season (around the eighteenth team automatically qualifies for the Asian Cup Final), in this context, the AFC can make more reasonable plans on the design of the competition system, avoiding these current disputes from