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Al Annabi’s squad for the next qualifying matches includes veteran returnees.

Experienced campaigners Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan and Abdulaziz Hatem have returned to the Qatar national team squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying round.

Qatar will face North Korea at home on March 20, followed by an away fixture against Kyrgyzstan on March 25. The national team started training for the matches on Saturday evening at the Khalifa International Stadium.

Pedro Miguel and Edmilson Junior will also make it to the squad after missing out on new head coach Luis Garcia’s Arabian Gulf Cup squad in December.

Garcia, appointed in the eve of the Gulf Cup, had chosen to go with a youth-filled squad in the regional competition. Qatar crashed out of the group stages without a win.

The Spaniard has now called on the experienced pack as well as recent standout performers in the Ooredoo Stars League to bolster his squad.

Joining the likes of Khoukhi, Hassan and Tarek Salman in defence will be Spanish side AD Alcorcon B’s Al Hashemi Al-Hussain, Al Rayyan’s Hazem Ahmed and Al Gharafa’s Abdullah Yousef, all of whom have put on stellar performances in the recent matches.

Familiar faces will be tasked to lead at the front as mainstays Akram Afif and Almoez Ali have been called up alongside veteran forward Mohammed Muntari and Al Rayyan’s young striker Ahmed Al-Rawi.

Despite making it to the preliminary squad, experienced goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb will miss out due to a calf injury. Al Shahniya’s shotstopper Shehab Ellethy will take his spot in the preliminary squad for the next games.

The need of the hour for Garcia, who succeeded Bartolome Marquez Lopez following Qatar’s staggering start to the campaign, will be to build momentum and get the squad back to winning ways ahead of the fourth round.

Qatar are currently fourth in Group A, six points shy of the automatic qualification spot with just four matches remaining. Top two teams from each group will qualify directly for next year’s tournament in North America.

Each of the third and fourth placed teams of three groups in Asia will have to compete amongst each other to book an indirect ticket.

Al Annabi have won just two of their first six matches and a 5-0 defeat away against the UAE served as the final nail in Marquez Lopez’s tenure as the head coach.

Qatar had begun the qualifiers as Asian champions and the favourites to qualify directly, yet an early stumble at home against the UAE and a flurry of poor performances puts them in a tricky position.