A perfect record in the fourth round will see Julen Lopetegui’s side punch tickets to the tournament in North America next year.
Qatar will face the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the fourth round of the World Cup 2026, slated to be held in October.
Casts for the play-off to be held in a centralised format were set at the draw held on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia pitted alongside Iraq and Indonesia in the other group.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia, two hosts of the play-offs, started in the first pot due to their FIFA rankings as of June. Venues are due to be announced.
Qatar, the organisers of the World Cup in 2022, are looking to qualify on merit for the first time and will start off facing Oman on October 8, followed by the game against the UAE on October 14.
Respective group winners will directly qualify for the tournament next year, completing the eight spots guaranteed to Asia. Runners-up of the two groups will contest a two-leg knockout for a chance to secure a place in the inter-confederation playoff.
Qatar will have to face familiar foes in the UAE, who were drawn alongside Al Annabi in the third round of the qualifiers. Despite having an upper hand in recent times, Qatar started the campaign with a 3-1 loss at home, followed by a 5-0 drubbing away from home against the UAE.
Oman, meanwhile, qualified for the play-off finishing fourth in Group B and are led by former Qatari manager Carlos Queiroz. The two sides last met in the Arabian Gulf Cup last December, where Qatar suffered a 2-1 loss.
Two sides from each of the three third-round matches have already booked their berths for the tournament next year.
Iran and Uzbekistan qualified from Group A, followed by South Korea and Jordan from Group B and Japan and Australia from Group C, finishing as the leaders and runners-up, respectively.
Despite starting as favourites to secure direct qualification, a shaky campaign saw Qatar burn through three managers and qualify for the play-offs, finishing fourth in Group A.
Qatar will, hence, look to win both matches and capitalise on the seemingly promising start under Lopetegui to qualify for its first World Cup on merit. The team is currently on a two-week-long camp in Austria, also playing two friendlies against Ukraine’s FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv and Italy’s Udinese.
Qatar defeated Group A toppers Iran 1-0 in Lopetegui’s first game in charge at home, before succumbing 3-0 away at Uzbekistan, who had already qualified for their maiden World Cup.
Lopetegui signed a two-year agreement with the Qatar Football Association in May, with the foremost priority being a spot in next year’s tournament.
“We know that we’re taking over at a difficult time, and we know we’re going to have to pull off something spectacular to qualify for the World Cup,” Lopetegui said in an interview with FIFA+ in June.
“Qatar has never qualified for a World Cup through the qualifiers before, and it’s a dream we’re determined to fight for. It’s within touching distance.”
