Al Annabi will play the World Cup on merit for the first time, putting an end to a history of near-misses.
Qatar secured a FIFA World Cup 2026 berth, overcoming the United Arab Emirates in a tense match that saw bottles and sandals being hurled on the pitch at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday.
Headers from Boualem Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel sealed the deal for Qatar, who came into the fixture needing a win to advance, before Sultan Adil pulled one back for the visitors in the added minutes to make it 2-1.
Fans from both sides had descended to Souq Waqif a day earlier, yet the scenes had not turned as ugly. As Qatar looked likely to secure the first qualification on merit, both their celebrations were marred by altercations.
The pulsating atmosphere had already found its way onto the pitch as both sides started with their feet on the gas. It made up for a rather physical start, which found an unlikely first casualty. Qatar head coach Lopetegui went down on the touchline after being struck by a clearance attempt from one of his own, Assim Madibo.
The home side were the first to create a cogent opening as Sultan Al-Brake forced a save off Khalid Eisa from close range in just the fourth minute. The rebound fell to Aloui, but the 20-year-old failed to keep the half volley on target.
The Emiratis came close to scoring twice in a short interval soon after the Spaniard dusted himself up.
First, it was Nicolas Jimenez’s strike from outside the box that narrowly missed the far post. The Qataris were then spared as the clock approached the fifteenth-minute mark, with Lucas Pimienta’s header from close range off a corner failing to hit the target on the same side.
It was at the other end that the next big chance of the game fell. Akram Afif’s long cross missed everyone — even Edmilson at full stretch — to go off target.
Just six minutes later, Al Annabi then overturned possession to create a chance at the other end, but Mohammed Mannai’s header off Edmilson’s cross went wide of the post.
It would not be the last action that the youngster would be involved in for the wrong reasons ahead of the first half.
The Al Shamal midfielder crunched into Ali Saleh and was shown the yellow card for a challenge that would have momentarily reminded one of two similar instances from last week.
For Mannai’s part, it was a similar move that had earned him a yellow card against Oman, later described by the opposition coach, Carlos Queiroz, as a “criminal tackle”. To UAE fans’ relief, it did not end up like the one against Oman, which took out Yahya Al-Ghassani for good on Saturday, and Saleh soon got up.
All the simmering tensions came to boil when captain Boualem Khoukhi headed talismanic Afif’s floated delivery to give the home side the lead just four minutes into the second half to revitalise the World Cup dream.
However, did not just serve as a release on the pitch as scenes soon turned ugly. The travelling fans hurled bottles at Qatari players basking in celebration — a scene reminiscent of the 2019 Asian Cup when sandals rained on the pitch against eventual champions.
UAE’s head coach, Cosmin Olarouiu, re-jigged his side with three substitutions, in a similar fashion, which saw them overturn the deficit against Oman. Harib Abdalla, Erik Jorgens, and Sultan Adil were the ones brought in to overturn the deficit again.
But it was not to be for the UAE. Pedro headed Afif’s free-kick home to double the lead in the 74th minute to all but confirm Qatar’s first qualification to the mundial on merit. The scenes turned uglier as some supporters came onto the pitch to exchange punches with the celebrating players in Maroon.
While Al Annabi lived dangerously and Tarek Salman was sent off with just a minute of regular time left, they survived the biggest scare as Adil pulled one back.
But it was too late for the Emiratis, who needed a draw to advance, as man-down Qatar defended with bodies on the line, their passports all but stamped for North America by now.
The celebrations had started — the reigning Asian champions are going to the World Cup.
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