The stage is set for the make-or-break fourth round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers in Doha with hosts Qatar facing Oman in first match of Group A on Wednesday.

Qatar will play the UAE next Tuesday in Group A as the Emirati team will face Oman in the final game of the fourth round on October 14.

The top team from the group will earn an automatic berth at next year's Fifa World Cup which will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.

In Group B, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Indonesia will battle it out for the top slot for a place in the 2026 World Cup.

The runners-up teams in each group will be locked in a play-off battle next month, with the winner advancing to an inter-continental play-off in March next year to decide the final World Cup slot.

The UAE will be attempting to book a return to the finals 36 years after their only previous appearance, in Italy in 1990.

Meanwhile, Oman coach Carlos Queiroz has criticised the decision to play his side's World Cup qualifiers in Qatar and questioned the fairness of the schedule ahead of the meeting between the Gulf nations in Doha's Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Wednesday.

The Omanis, bidding to qualify for the finals for the first time, play two matches in four days against Qatar and the UAE in a condensed timetable that Queiroz believes favours the 2022 World Cup hosts.

"You know the qualifiers are being played in Qatar's home," the former Real Madrid manager said. "We are playing on three days' rest, Qatar with six days.

"If this is all about fair play for the people who made this decision, then I do not have any comments. I've worked for 40 years in football and this is not fair play for me.

"As a coach, I'll have to accept that and my players have to accept that too. But, my players are stronger and powerful. They believe that we need to work more, sacrifice more and leave blood and sweat on the pitch.

"(Even if I was Qatar or Saudi Arabia coach) I would feel the same," said Queiroz. "I probably would not have said it, but I would've felt the same.

"When I leave the pitch, I want to go home with the right feeling that we won the game fair and square."

The match will be Queiroz's first against Qatar since he was sacked by the country's federation in the lead-up to January's Asian Cup, a tournament won by the Portuguese coach's former team under his replacement, Tintin Marquez.

"In my opinion, if I was still the head coach, Qatar would not have been playing tomorrow," said the 72-year-old Queiroz. "Qatar would have already qualified for the World Cup."

Meanwhile, Oman striker Muhsen Al-Ghassani has backed Queiroz, the former Real Madrid coach, to lead the Gulf state to their first-ever World Cup.

"He's a big coach, he has experience," Al-Ghassani said of Queiroz, who is attempting to book his fifth World Cup appearance after featuring three times with Iran and once with his native Portugal.

"He's worked with us for about three months and he's worked well and he's helping us to go to the World Cup hopefully.

"It's a good chance for us, for my country to make history. We're prepared for these games and we can do it."

Oman, currently ranked 78th in the world, have never qualified for the World Cup while the Qataris are attempting to progress through the preliminaries for the first time having previously appeared as hosts in 2022.

"We have to focus and we have to be patient," said Al-Ghassani. "We have to fight together and, I tell you, we can do it. All my teammates have confidence and they have worked well to take this chance."

Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Jordan and Uzbekistan have qualified for next year's tournament from the Asian confederation with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Iraq battling for the other remaining berth in Jeddah in the current window. (with inputs from Reuters)

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