Qatar prepare for Iran clash as Australia eye win in Japan

Qatar will hope they have turned the corner after Thursday’s 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan when they face Asian giants Iran in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
Qatar, the two-time AFC Asian Cup champions, entered last Thursday’s tie with just a point to their name and another negative result would have had drastic implications on their qualification hopes.
However, the Marquez Lopez-coached side lifted the home gloom with a fighting 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan on Thursday at Al Thumama Stadium where the home side totally dominated the first half and did enough in the second to secure a welcome win.
Lopez welcomed back Abdelkarim Hassan to the side after more than two years in the wilderness and the Al Wakrah defender delivered with threatening runs and astute defence. Al Duhail striker Almoez Ali, who opened the scoring in the 39th minute against Kyrgyzstan, kept the visitors backline busy on Thursday.
Mercurial Akram Afif – shortlisted for this year’s AFC Player of the Year award – and his teammates will be aiming for a win against Iran and a victoryon Tuesday will complete their turnaround and Qatar can then optimistically look forward to the rest of their campaign.
In other Group A games on Tuesday, points leaders Uzbekistan will host the United Arab Emirates looking to return to winning ways after drawing 0-0 with Iran last week. Kyrgyzstan, who were beaten by Qatar, on Tuesday face North Korea in the group’s other game.
The first two finishers in each group qualify automatically for the World Cup with the third and fourth-placed finishers advancing to another round of preliminaries.
Meanwhile Australia coach Tony Popovic will look to continue the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying renaissance against a familiar foe on Tuesday as he takes his team to Saitama Stadium to face ex-teammate Hajime Moriyasu and his rampant Japan team.
Popovic led Australia to a 3-1 win over China on Thursday in his first game since replacing Graham Arnold, reinvigorating the team’s hopes of an automatic berth at the 2026 World Cup. Australia picked up one point from their opening two matches but victory over the Chinese has moved them up to second in Group C as the Japanese defeated Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were held to a 2-2 draw by Indonesia. The Samurai Blue lead the standings by five points having won all three of their games so far, scoring 14 times without conceding to go into the clash as favourites with the Australians having never won in Japan. Despite the odds being heavily in the home side’s favour, the journey will hold few concerns for Popovic, who spent four years playing alongside Moriyasu at J-League outfit Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
“I know the coach very well, he was my captain when I played in Japan, a wonderful person that’s been there several years now,” the former defender said. “You can see the evolution of Japanese football and how he’s changed, bringing players in and out, how they’ve improved their style of play.
“Obviously, it’s a big challenge but also a big opportunity as well to win in Japan,” Popovic said.
While Japan and Australia meet in their top-of-the-table encounter, Saudi Arabia host Bahrain in Jeddah aiming to bounce back from their loss to Japan while Indonesia travel to face pointless China looking to pick up a win after three draws.