From Real Madrid to Muscat: Carlos Queiroz tipped to guide Oman to World Cup

Oman striker Muhsen Al Ghassani is confident veteran Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz can guide the Gulf nation to their first World Cup as the fourth round of Asia’s qualifiers for the 2026 finals gets underway this week.

Queiroz’s side open their Group A campaign on Wednesday against Qatar in Doha before taking on the UAE three days later, with only the group winners guaranteed a direct ticket to the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Al Ghassani, a mainstay of the Omani national team, said the appointment of Queiroz earlier this year has already raised standards and belief within the squad.

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“He’s a big coach, he has experience,” Al Ghassani told reporters ahead of the clash with Qatar. “He’s worked with us for about three months and he’s worked well. He’s helping us to go to the World Cup, hopefully.

“It’s a good chance for us, for my country to make history. We’re prepared for these games and we can do it.”

For Queiroz, 71, the challenge represents another chapter in a long and distinguished career. The former Real Madrid coach has already appeared at four World Cups – three with Iran and once with Portugal – and his reputation as a master organiser makes Oman one of the potential dark horses of the Asian qualifiers.

Currently ranked 78th in the world, Oman have never qualified for the World Cup, but recent years have seen steady progress. They reached the last 16 of the 2019 Asian Cup and came close to advancing from the third round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, narrowly missing out on a play-off place.

The squad is built around a blend of domestic league stalwarts and overseas-based professionals, and Al Ghassani believes the players’ hunger can prove decisive.

“We have to focus and we have to be patient,” he said. “We have to fight together and, I tell you, we can do it. All my teammates have confidence and they have worked well to take this chance.”

For Oman, the stakes could not be higher. The prospect of qualifying for the world’s biggest football stage has long been a dream for the country’s passionate supporters, and Queiroz’s appointment has brought renewed optimism. The coach himself has spoken of the challenge as an opportunity to elevate Omani football on the global stage.

Al Ghassani, for one, is determined to seize the moment.

“Everyone knows how important this is for Oman,” he said. “It is about making history for our people, for our football. We are ready.”

Their task will be a demanding one. Qatar, who featured at the 2022 finals as hosts, are aiming to qualify through the preliminaries for the first time. Meanwhile, the UAE are seeking to return to the World Cup for the first time since their lone appearance in 1990.

Another factor, for Quieroz at least, could be the chance to get one over his former employers Qatar. The Qatari Football Association sacked the Portuguese in December 2023 after only 11 games in charge.

The drama is not confined to Group A. In Jeddah, six-time qualifiers Saudi Arabia begin their campaign against Indonesia, coached by Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert. Iraq, guided by former Australia coach Graham Arnold, complete the line-up in Group B.

Only the winners of each group will advance directly to the World Cup, joining Asia’s traditional heavyweights Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, as well as first-time qualifiers Uzbekistan and Jordan, who have already secured their spots. The runners-up will contest a two-legged play-off in November, with the winner advancing to an intercontinental play-off next March for the final berth.

Indonesia, a football-mad nation of nearly 300 million people, are on the verge of a maiden World Cup appearance since gaining independence from the Dutch in 1945.

Indonesian football authorities have looked to the Netherlands to achieve it, bringing in legendary Netherlands striker Kluivert as coach in January.

They have also naturalised more than a dozen players born in the Netherlands but with family ties to the Southeast Asian country.

It comes three years after Indonesian football was plunged into mourning when 135 people were killed in a stadium crush during a domestic game.

"The whole country needs to stand behind us," said Kluivert, the former Ajax and Barcelona great, whose side face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday before taking on Iraq on Saturday.

"We are doing our utmost best to perform at the highest level and prepare the players as good as possible.

"Inshallah we are ready to make the country proud of us."