Both in search of a first victory in the third round of Asian World Cup 2026 Qualifying, Oman and Kuwait will square off in Muscat on Thursday.
The hosts have lost their first two matches after progressing through their second-round group, while their visitors started with a pair of draws in September.
Match preview
© Imago
Oman return to World Cup Qualifying action on Thursday aiming to get up and running in their second-round group, having failed to get off the mark in their first two outings last month.
They began their bid to reach the main competition for the first time in the second round last year and progressed in style, finishing at the top of Group D in June having earned 13 points from their six outings, picking up four victories and only suffering one defeat along the way.
Under the management of Jaroslav Silhavy, Thursday's hosts faced a tough start to the third round last month, firstly visiting Iraq and suffering a 1-0 defeat as Aymen Hussein netted the only goal of the game early on.
A meeting with South Korea then followed, and Al-Ahmar again came away empty-handed, despite drawing 1-1 heading into the final 10 minutes thanks to a Jung Seung-hyun own goal, as Son Heung-min restored the visitors' lead and Joo Min-kyu put the game out of sight in injury time.
Oman now head into the third round of games under new management following the appointment of Rashid Jaber after those defeats, and they will be keen to make a positive start to their new era with a first three-point haul of the third round to strengthen their position in the group.
Their visitors, meanwhile, will bid to build on their unbeaten start with a first victory of their own in the group, after scraping through the second round.
Also aiming to reach the World Cup group stage for the first time in their history, Kuwait entered qualifying in the second round and managed to progress in second spot with seven points from their six outings, leapfrogging India in the final round of games thanks to a 1-0 victory over Afghanistan in June.
Al-Mouj Al-Azraq then began in the third-round group with a trip to Jordan last month and looked set to leave empty-handed, with the hosts having led throughout thanks to Mousa Tamari's goal, but they were able to snatch a point as Yousef Nasser converted an injury-time penalty to level the contest.
Iraq then visited Kuwait City and Juan Antonio Pizzi's side made it back-to-back draws under their new boss, who arrived in July to lead their continued qualifying bid, as the game ended in a goalless stalemate.
With the top two spots in Group B guaranteeing a World Cup group-stage spot and two places granting a spot in the fourth round of qualifying, Kuwait will look to strengthen their position by adding to the opening draws with a crucial win on Thursday.
Team News
Oman will welcome Arshad Al-Alawi back to contention for Thursday's game, after he served a suspension last time out against South Korea for a red card shown in their defeat to Iraq.
He should rejoin 93-capped Harib Al-Saadi in the engine room, while Mohammed Al-Musalami, who leads the squad for international caps with 116, continues to play a key role at the heart of the defence.
Bangkok United forward Muhsen Al-Ghassani, who has netted 12 goals in his 57 international outings, will continue to lead the line, while Issam Al-Sabhi, who sits second in the current squad's scoring charts with 11, will compete to displace Nasser Al-Rawahi and join Al-Ghassani up top.
Kuwait's attack will again be led by talismanic forward Yousef Nasser, who tops the current squad with 110 caps and 50 international goals.
Mohammad Daham and Faisal Zayid should continue to offer support on the wings, while Ahmad Al-Dhefiri and Redha Abujabarah will both hope to keep their places in midfield despite facing competition from Sultan Al-Enezi.
Oman possible starting lineup:
Al-Mukhaini; Al-Harthi, Al-Musalami, Al-Khamisi, Al-Busaidi; Al-Yahmadi, Al-Saadi, Al-Alawi, Al-Mushaifri; Al-Ghassani, Al-Sabhi
Kuwait possible starting lineup:
Abdulghafoor; Al-Sanea, Al-Hajeri, El Ebrahim, Al-Enezi, Ghanam; Daham, Al-Dhefiri, Abujabarah, Zayid; Nasser
We say: Oman 2-1 Kuwait
We anticipate a hard-fought contest on Thursday between two sides with similar quality and who are desperate for three points to move into the World Cup qualification spots.
Despite their tough start to the third-round group, we give Oman a narrow edge and back them to pick up a first victory of this stage on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
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