he World Cup in
Qatar,thefirstone
to be held in the Arab
world, is drawing near.
Lusail Iconic Stadium,
the venue for the
final, has been completed; La’eeb,
in the form of a traditional keffiyeh
headdress, will serve as a mascot;
and Al Rihla, the ball, will decide
the destiny of the 32 participants.
In an unprecedented scenario, the
COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian
invasion of Ukraine changed the
calendar, meaning that – for theInter-confederational play-offs
Five teams head to Qatar in June for the intercontinental play-offs, but
only two of them will be back again in November for the World Cup finalsT
first time since1974 – the World Cup
draw took place with the final line-up
still to be determined.
Two of the final three tickets will be
decided by two inter-confederational
play-offs in Doha. The action begins
onJune 7, when Australia and the
United Arab Emirates play to decide
who Asia’s representatives will be. A
week later, the winner will take on Peru
for the right to join world champions
France, Tunisia and Denmark in
Group D at the World Cup.
After disappointing campaigns, both
the Socceroos and the UAE finishedthird in their respective groups in the
final round of World Cup qualifying in
Asia. Graham Arnold’s team were insipid
for much of their campaign. In a crunch
qualifier in March at Stadium Australia,
the backdrop to many of Australia’s
finest moments in the game – most
notablyJohn Aloisi’s famous penalty
against Uruguay to end a 32-year
World Cup wait – they succumbed to
two lateJapanese goals, condemning
them to the play-offs for a second
consecutive time.
The UAE fared no better. InJanuary,
they dismissed their Dutch coach BertQatar
SAMINDRA KUNTIP
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