(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Fawad Hussain
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The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Qatar have breathed new life into their World Cup qualifying campaign with a pivotal victory over Kyrgyzstan but head coach Marquez Lopez is aware his ranks have a mountain to climb in quest to seal their berth in the global football showpiece.
After suffering a surprising loss to the United Arab Emirates and drawing against North Korea, Qatar responded with a much-needed 3-1 win in their home fixture on Thursday. The victory took their tally to four points from three matches.
Lopez had expressed his delight over the comeback win but urged his team to up the ante as the focus is now shifted to the highly-anticipated match against Iran this Tuesday.
“The goal in all the matches that the Qatari team plays is not to lose points, and to make every effort to achieve positive results, as the difficult journey requires dealing with all matches with the utmost seriousness,” the Qatar coach said.
Qatar's coach Marquez Lopez gestures during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying match against Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.
“We must work very hard to gain the points that will enable us to take one of the two qualification tickets from this group, as we now have a difficult match against Iran,” he said.
The match will be held at Dubai's Rashid Stadium following the Asian Football Confederation's decision to relocate the game from Mashhad, Iran, due to security concerns.
Following three Match Days, Uzbekistan and Iran are leading Group A with seven points each. United Arab Emirates are third with four points edging Qatar on superior goal difference followed by North Korea (2 points) and Kyrgyzstan, yet to register any.
Iran, who were down to ten men early in the second half, played out a goalless draw against Uzbekistan on Thursday.
Amir Ghalenoei was content with his team's show in stalemate, saying the focus will now be on the match against Qatar.
“We witnessed a good game. I think it was the best game in the group. We have to think about the next meeting now,” he said in a post match comment after Uzbekistan game in Tashkent.
Tuesday's other Group A games will see table toppers Uzbekistan hosting the UAE in Tashkent while Kyrgyzstan will play their home game against North Korea in Bishkek.
Miguel undergoes successful surgery
Qatar defender Pedro Miguel has successfully undergone surgery in London, his club Al Sadd confirmed yesterday.
The 34-year-old defender was excluded from Qatar's squad for the matches against Kyrgyzstan and Iran due to a hamstring injury he sustained during Al Sadd's AFC Champions League Elite match against Iran's Esteghlal on September 30.
Al Sadd previously announced that Miguel is expected to be out of action for around three months as he recovers from the injury.
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