Mauritania beats Yemen to book spot at the FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar

Mauritania will now join the top twelve Arab nations in the competitive final stage in November.

Mauritania has become the fourth team to emerge triumphant from Qatar’s FIFA Arab Cup qualifiers after a heated game against Yemen that ended with a 2-0 win for the Lions of Chinguetti.

The 101st ranked team dominated the game after a spectacular goal by Ismael Diakite in the 18th minute, followed by Hemeya Tanjy’s second and last goal in the game at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

Yemen (145) is now out and the North African team joins the winners of the qualifiers in four months.

The next qualification match will take place on Thursday, June 24, between Lebanon and Djibouti. The winner will join Mauritania, Jordan, Oman, and Sudan in the tournament next November.

The single knockout fixtures will continue to take place in Doha until 25 June 2021, and will include the 14 lowest-ranked countries (of the 23 participating sides) on the April 2021 edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

The remaining qualifiers will determine the next four participants in the tournament.

The last three matches will see Lebanon (93) vs Djibouti (183), Palestine (104) vs Comoros (131), and Bahrain (99) vs Kuwait (148).

All matches will take place in either Khalifa International Stadium or Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium at 8 PM Qatar time.

Winners of the remaining matches will join Sudan, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria in the FIFA Arab Cup final phase from 30 November to 18 December in Qatar.

Arab Cup Schedule

Qatar will kick off the tournament on November 30, facing the winner of the Bahrain-Kuwait match in the qualifiers at 1pm Doha time.

Meanwhile, Iraq will play in the same round with the current qualifier winner, Oman.

In the second round, host Qatar will face Oman again on December 3 at 4pm Doha time, while Iraq will play with the winner from Bahrain and Kuwait.

Qatar’s national team will then meet its Iraqi counterpart at 10pm on December 6 and the winner of the Kuwait and Bahrain match will face off Oman in the same round.

Group B will see Tunisia meeting Mauritania, and the UAE will meet Syria in the first round on November 30.

On December 3, Tunisia will face Syria and the UAE will go head to head with the winner of the Yemen and Mauritania match in the second round. On December 6, Tunisia will face the UAE, and Syria will play with Mauritania in the third round.

For group C, Morocco will play with the winner of the Palestine and Comoros match, while Saudi Arabia will face Jordan in the first round on December 1.

In the second round on December 4, Morocco will play against Jordan, and Saudi Arabia will kick off with the winner from Palestine and Comoros, FIFA announced.

In the third round on December 7, Morocco will play Saudi Arabia, and Jordan will face the winner from Palestine and Comoros.

Lastly, Group D will see Algeria playing Sudan, and Egypt will battle with the winner of the Lebanon and Djibouti match in the first round on December 1.

For the second round, Algeria will go head to head with the winner of Lebanon and Djibouti, while Egypt will face off with Sudan on December 4.

The third round on December 7 will see rivals Algeria and Egypt go head to head. Meanwhile, Sudan will face off with the winner from Lebanon and Djibouti game.

The long-awaited tournament will be held at the end of 2021 and is seen as a vital opportunity to test operations and facilities a year before Qatar hosts the 2022 World Cup.

Matches will take place at six Qatar stadiums, most of which are complete, while others are in the final stages of construction.

The finals of the Arab Cup 2021 and the 2022 World Cup are set to take place on the same date, 18 December, but one year apart. This also comes in conjunction with Qatar’s National Day.

This week, Somalia, South Sudan, and Libya were also kicked out in the single knockout fixtures, leaving 7 more nations to fight for a spot in the finals.

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