uaetodaynews.com — 7 Arab teams qualify for the World Cup finals… and the eighth is on the way
For the first time in history, 7 Arab teams qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico next year.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar were the last Arab teams to qualify in the Asian playoff matches. The Saudi team clinched the qualification ticket after a goalless draw against Iraq, while the Qatari team qualified after defeating its Emirati counterpart 2-1 in the third round of the Asian qualifiers.
Thus, Saudi Arabia and Qatar joined 5 Arab teams that had previously qualified: Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, bringing the number of Arab teams qualifying for the 2026 World Cup to 7 in a historic precedent, as this is the first time that this number of Arab teams have qualified for this global football tournament.
According to the website “Sky News Arabia“The Saudi national team qualified for the World Cup for the third time in a row and the seventh in its history, after topping the second group competitions with 4 points, superior on goal difference to Iraq, which came in second.
Qatar qualified for the World Cup after defeating its host UAE 2-1. Qatar topped the standings of Group A with 4 points and qualified for the World Cup for the second time in its history after the 2022 edition in which it participated as a host country.
The current Qatari team includes what is known as the historic generation of players who won the 2019 and 2023 Asian Cup titles, and qualified for the World Cup through qualifiers for the first time.
As for the UAE, which fell to second place with 3 points, it maintained its chances of ascending to the World Cup for the second time after 1990 in Italy, after it qualified for the Asian playoff against Iraq.
The Arab teams that will participate in the 2026 World Cup so far:
Jordan (first to qualify…and first to participate)
The Jordanian national team qualified for the 2026 World Cup for the first time, in a historic achievement, after defeating its Omani counterpart 3-0. As for the Asian Cup, it has qualified five times so far (2004, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023).
Morocco (qualified for the seventh time and qualification was decided early)
Morocco qualified for the World Cup in 6 tournaments, in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, and 2022. It achieved its best achievement in the 2022 World Cup when it finished fourth, thus becoming the first African and Arab country to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Egypt (qualified for the fourth time)
Egypt qualified for the World Cup 3 times, in 1934, 1990, and 2018. With two draws and five defeats, Egypt has never won a match in a World Cup finals. In 1934, Egypt became the first African team to play in the World Cup.
Tunisia (qualified for the seventh time)
Tunisia has participated in the World Cup 6 times, in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022. During all participations, Tunisia was unable to advance beyond the group stage.
Algeria (qualified for the fifth time)
Algeria previously qualified for the World Cup 4 times, in 1982 in Spain, 1986 in Mexico, 2010 in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil.
Qatar (participating for the second time)
The Qatar national team has qualified for the World Cup twice throughout its history, the first was in the 2022 edition as host of the competition, and the second was in the 2026 edition through the qualifiers.
Saudi Arabia (qualified for the seventh time)
The Saudi national football team qualified for the World Cup finals 6 times, in the years: 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022.
The eighth Arab team
There is still a chance for an eighth Arab team to join the World Cup, as the UAE and Iraq teams will meet on November 13 and 18 to determine the team that will represent Asia in the global playoff, for a final chance to reach the 2026 World Cup finals.
The qualification of 7 Arab teams for the World Cup brings the number of teams participating in the finals to 48, for the first time in the history of the international football competition.
The Jordanian team was the first Arab team to qualify for the next World Cup finals, before other Arab and African teams followed. While the Moroccan team was the first Arab team from Africa to secure qualification before the teams of Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria joined it.
The teams that have qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals so far:
Host countries of the tournament: Canada, United States, Mexico
Europe:England
Asia: Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
South America: Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay
Africa: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast
Oceania: New Zealand
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Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
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Author: فريق راديو صوت العرب من أمريكا
Published on: 2025-10-19 03:40:00
Source: arabradio.us
Disclaimer: This news article has been republished exactly as it appeared on its original source, without any modification.
We do not take any responsibility for its content, which remains solely the responsibility of the original publisher.
Author: uaetodaynews
Published on: 2025-10-19 07:01:00
Source: uaetodaynews.com
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