World Cup expansion gives hope to West Asian teams

Qatar has hosted the World Cup, Saudi Arabia's Saudi Pro League is full of world-class players, and the United Arab Emirates owns Manchester City. Such international attention-grabbing has left regional neighbors like  Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain struggling to keep up. Qualifying for the expanded World Cup would, however, make a difference.

For such teams, there is a real chance of  appearing in the 2026 tournament as the third round of five kicks off on Thursday. From 32 teams in Qatar 2022, there will be 48 in North America in 2026. Asia's automatic allocation has doubled from four to eight. As well as the usual contenders like Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia and Saudi Arabia, there is now room for some new names. 

Opportunities for all

Or some old names. In the 70s and 80s, Kuwait was a continental powerhouse, winning the Asian Cup in 1980 and playing at the World Cup –the first Asian Arab nation to do so– two years later. That was a long time ago. The nadir was a  FIFA ban in 2015 due to Kuwaiti government interference in the running of Kuwaiti football. The ban lasted two years and put the country even further behind UAE and Qatar, similarly-sized nations.

"Because of that suspension, we don't have many good young players and fans have become more interested in the domestic league than the national team," Abdullah Al-Mutairi, who coached Kuwait Premier League club Al-Jahra last season, told DW. "It would really help football in Kuwait to qualify (for the World Cup) as there have been many problems."

Now, Kuwait is one of 18 Asian teams in the third round that are divided into three groups of six. First and second will qualify automatically with the third- and fourth-placed teams going into a fourth round to compete for the other two spots. 

 Al-Mutairi, now interim head coach of Sri Lanka, does not expect Kuwait to challenge for the top two places, but finishing fourth in a group that contains South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Palestine, is at least a possibility. 

"Korea will qualify easily and Iraq and Jordan will fight for second," Al-Mutairi said.  "Then it is between the others for fourth. It is very difficult, but if Kuwait can get one or two good results in the first four games, then the support from the country and the government will come."

Kuwait has hired a well-known coach. Juan Antonio Pizzi led Chile to the Copa America in 2016. The former Barcelona player knows the region well, with past spells in charge of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. 

"There is a chance for many teams to go to the World Cup who don't usually go and that is the dream," added Al-Mutairi.

From Asian success to global competition

Oman, ranked 60 places above Kuwait at 76 in the world, impressed in qualification for the 2022 World Cup, finishing just a point behind Australia in the final round and just missing out. Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic was in charge at the time. "The improvement came because of hard work,” Ivankovic told DW. "Oman can qualify for the World Cup this time.” 

For fan Omar Al-Amri, a good start would really get the nation excited. "We finished fourth in a tougher group in 2022 and this time that would give us a real chance of the World Cup,” he told DW. "Getting there would help the league which does not have many fans. It would bring more people and excitement, as well as more money. All these things are needed, but the best thing would be seeing Oman at the World Cup.”

Building foundations for consistent success is the key. Unlike Muscat in Oman, Jordan's capital of Amman has long been a tough, hostile and noisy destination for visiting teams. Despite that, the national team has also never gone to the World Cup.

Al-Nashama, as they are nicknamed, should be in a better position than their neighbors. The team has made it to the final stages of qualification before and, earlier this year, defeated Group B rivals Iraq and South Korea at the Asian Cup on their way to the final, a defeat to hosts Qatar.

"That success has not put extra pressure on us,” said Jordan defender Abdallah Nasib. "We have had a dream for a long time in this country and that is to go to the World Cup. We are optimistic that we can finish in the top two places."

Bahrain have come the closest in this century. The Reds reached the final inter-continental playoff for the 2010 tournament. A missed penalty against New Zealand cost Bahrain a place in South Africa, and the team has not been the same force since.

"Like Oman, Bahrain find it difficult as they don't have the money of the other nations,” said Al-Mutairi. "They have big dreams but too often, when they lose their first match then everything is destroyed."

An expanded World Cup gives teams more chances to recover from poor starts. Bahrain's opening game in Australia, followed by a home tie with Japan, could well leave them with zero points. But the third match, at home against Indonesia, is when the battle for the top four really starts. 

Fans around the region will be watching, including Oman supporter Al-Amri. "Before we had to finish above Japan and Australia to have a chance but now we just need to beat Palestine and Kuwait. This is the difference and fans are excited."

Edited by: Matt Pearson