“The Whites” without friendly matches before the matches between Kyrgyzstan and Qatar

Emirates Al-Youm learned that the national football team decided not to play any friendly match and contented itself with the players participating with their teams in local competitions, before its two upcoming confrontations against the Kyrgyzstan and Qatar national teams on the 14th and 19th of this month, within the fifth and sixth rounds of the decisive third round qualifiers for the World Cup. 2026.

The team will launch its preparations for the two matches at an internal camp in Abu Dhabi starting next Friday, as the team’s technical staff, led by Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, chose the New York University Abu Dhabi stadium to conduct daily training on until the time of playing the first match against the Kyrgyz national team, noting that the Football Association had specified a stadium. Mohamed bin Zayed at Al Jazira Club in Abu Dhabi to host the match at 8:15 pm, while the national team will play its match against Qatar at Al Nahyan Stadium at Al Wahda Club in Abu Dhabi at 8 pm.

The team playing in Group A during the next two matches will miss player Abdullah Hamad Al-Menhali, who was sent off during the last match against Uzbekistan, as well as player Sultan Adel, who is currently undergoing physical therapy, after the injury he recently suffered that prevented him from participating with Al-Abyad.

During his selection of players in the upcoming list, Coach Pinto focuses on the elements most ready for this task, especially since the coach and members of his assistant staff follow the levels of players with their teams, whether in the ADNOC Professional League competition or through participation in the Asian Club Championship, in preparation for selecting the new roster for the team. Which is expected to include the same faces that were found in the previous list, with the possibility of adding some elements that have distinguished themselves with their teams in the recent period, in order to support the national team.

During the team’s upcoming gathering in Abu Dhabi, the team’s technical staff will seek to address the errors and gaps that accompanied the team’s recent matches, which caused a decline in its results and loss of important points, especially its last match against Uzbekistan, with the aim of working to correct the course of the Whites and return strongly to the competition again.

After the end of the fourth round, the team occupies third place with four points, while the Iranian team leads the group standings with 10 points, followed by the Uzbek team in second place with the same score, then the Qatari team is in fourth place with four points, equal to the Whites, and the Kyrgyz national team comes in fifth place. With three points, North Korea is in last place with only two points.

Al-Abyad had suffered a painful loss against its counterpart, the Uzbekistan national team, with a clean goal that came from a penalty kick in the fourth round, during the confrontation that was held in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

During the matches between Kyrgyzstan and Qatar, the team hopes to regain its luster again, and enhance its chances of competing for a qualification card for the World Cup finals, noting that Al-Abyad had started its journey in these qualifiers in a distinguished manner, after winning away from home in the first round over its counterpart, the Qatari team, 3-1. , before declining after losing to Uzbekistan with a clean goal in the fourth round, and before that losing to Iran with a clean goal in the second round, and a draw with North Korea in the third round.

According to the tournament system, the top two teams from each group qualify directly to the 2026 World Cup finals, while the third and fourth-placed teams move to the fourth round of qualifiers to compete for a qualification ticket.