Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan qualify for ’26 WC

Jordan and Uzbekistan certified for the lads’s World Cup finals for the primary time on Thursday, whilst South Korea sealed their 11th successive look.

A 0-0 draw towards the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi was once sufficient for Uzbekistan to take the second one automated qualification spot in Group A in the back of Iran with a sport to spare.

The Central Asian staff and enthusiasts celebrated in combination on the finish and had goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov to thank for quite a lot of vital saves.

The trio sign up for Japan, New Zealand, Iran and Argentina because the international locations to have certified for the 2026 World Cup. Co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico robotically certified for the contest.

As neatly because the six automated qualifiers from Asia, the UAE and Qatar, who defeated the already-qualified Iran 1-0, will end 3rd and fourth and advance to the following level, the place six groups will compete for 2 extra puts on the 2026 World Cup.

In Group B, South Korea received 2-0 in Iraq to clinch their position. The Taeguk Warriors had been helped by means of Ali Al-Hamadi’s first-half purple card, given to the Ipswich Town striker for a prime kick.

Kim Jin-Gyu put Korea forward simply after the hour, and the victory was once sealed by means of Oh Hyeon-Gyu 8 mins from the tip. It was once additionally sufficient for Jordan, who previous beat Oman 3-0 to clinch a spot within the most sensible two. All 3 objectives had been scored by means of Ali Olwan.

Palestine stayed in rivalry for the highest 4 with a 2-0 win over Kuwait.

Group C noticed China eradicated after a 1-0 loss to Indonesia in Jakarta. A primary-half penalty from Ole Romeny was once sufficient to stay out China, whose sole look was once in 2002

Indonesia, coached by means of Patrick Kluivert, took the lead simply prior to the destroy when Romeny transformed from the penalty spot.

Elsewhere within the team, a last-minute target from Aziz Behich gave Australia a 1-0 win over Japan, already certified, in Perth to place the Socceroos inside of touching distance of a 6th directly World Cup look.

In the 90th minute, Riley McGree broke loose down the correct and pulled again for Behich to curve house to carry Perth Stadium to its toes and provides Australia their first win over Japan in 16 years.

“It hasn’t sunk in just yet but when the final whistle went it was a great feeling,” Behich mentioned. “It was a tough game and we had to grind it out. It’s been a long campaign and we have worked so hard.”

Australia must steer clear of a five-goal defeat in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to make certain after the west Asian staff received 2-0 in Bahrain.

Kyrgyzstan is probably not amongst the ones competing for the remainder slots after their 2-2 draw with North Korea in Riyadh ended their possibilities of going via to the fourth spherical.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was once used on this record.