Two ex-Real Madrid bosses blocking UAE’s path to World Cup qualification

National team are vying for a place on the plane to North America next summer via a play-off in Doha

UAE coach Cosmin Olariou during the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The World Cup Qualifier play-offs in Doha and Jeddah this week might be about to define the hopes of some nations – but they also feel a bit like a game of: "Where are they now?"

Cosmin Olaroiu is plotting the UAE’s return to the World Cup for the first time since 1990. In the opposite dugout in Doha will be two former Real Madrid coaches.

Julen Lopetegui, now with Qatar, and Carlos Queiroz, of Oman, each had brief and largely unsatisfactory spells at the Bernabeu.

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Their increasingly itinerant coaching careers have brought them to the Gulf. How much it means to either of them is open to debate, but they will certainly bring happiness to the countries of their current employers if they can make a success of this week.

It is the final phase of an Asian qualifying process which started two years ago. Two three-team play-offs will take place, with the winner of each progressing to the 2026 World Cup.

Group A

Fixtures

Wednesday, October 8: Oman v Qatar

Saturday, October 11: UAE v Oman

Tuesday, October 14: Qatar v UAE

Qatar

Coach: Julen Lopetegui

Fifa ranking: 53

The hosts of the previous World Cup started the qualification process for this one among the best-regarded sides on the continent. Back-to-back champions of Asia, they seemed set to qualify for the first time by competitive merit, rather than as hosts.

Yet they stuttered. After the long and broadly successful spell of Felix Sanchez as coach, his successor Queiroz came and went, while Tintin Marquez hardly fared much better.

Now they are on to Lopetegui, the former Spain and Real Madrid manager, who has ended up in Doha after a poor spell at West Ham United in the Premier League.

They do have home advantage and will always have a chance of success while Akram Afif, their attacking talisman, is on the field, but their defence has been leaky.

Oman coach Carlos Queiroz. AFP

Oman

Coach: Carlos Queiroz

Fifa ranking: 78

Beaten to an automatic qualifying place in the previous round by South Korea and Jordan. They only made it to this play-off via a last day draw with Palestine which required an equaliser in the seventh minute of injury time.

In a bid to drag themselves over the line in qualifying, they ditched coach Rashid Jaber, an Omani national who had been in charge since September 2024, and brought in Queiroz in June.

Now 72, Queiroz is in charge of the lowest-ranked side in Group A. He should have some intel on both sides: he managed Qatar at the start of this qualifying process.

He was also once in charge of the UAE, although the game has advanced apace in the Emirates since he was here in the late 1990s.

Harib Abdalla celebrates scoring for the UAE in their 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw against Kyrgyzstan at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium on June 10, 2025. Reuters

UAE defender Lucas Pimenta beats Khristiyan Brauzman of Kyrgyzstan to a header. Reuters

New UAE manager Cosmin Olaroiu, right, during the match. Reuters

Kai Merk celebrates scoring Kyrgyzstan's 95th-minute leveller. Reuters

UAE's Yahya Al Ghassani under pressure from Kayrat Zhyrgalbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan. Reuters

Kai Merk scores for Kyrgyzstan to earn his team a draw against the UAE. Reuters

UAE's Mohammad Abdulbasit challenges. Reuters

The UAE starting XI line-up before the game against Kyrgyzstan at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium. Reuters

UAE

Coach: Cosmin Olaroiu

Fifa ranking: 67

Third behind Iran and Uzbekistan in the previous round of qualifying. The FA replaced Paulo Bento as coach with two matches still to play in that, and with automatic qualification still a possibility.

They brought in Cosmin Olaroiu from Sharjah to replace him. Unlike other celebrity coaches in this play-off, like Lopategui, Queiroz and Patrick Kluivert, Olaroiu has made his name via reams of success in this region.

There has been a groundswell of optimism since his promotion to the job, as well as via the FA’s “Dream of a Nation” campaign.

They were unhappy to have ceded hosting rights for the play-off to Qatar, but at least they have the memory of recent success against them, having beaten them 3-1 in Doha and 5-0 in Abu Dhabi.

Group B

Fixtures

Wednesday, October 8: Saudi Arabia v Indonesia

Saturday, October 11: Iraq v Indonesia

Tuesday, October 14: Saudi Arabia v Iraq

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al Dawsari during a World Cup qualifier against China in Riyadh. AFP

Saudi Arabia

Coach: Herve Renard

Fifa ranking: 59

Playing at “The Jewell” in Jeddah, with its 62,000 capacity, should be a significant advantage. But it also brings with it the weight of expectation, too.

Saudi Arabia’s fans might have thought they should be above all this. They have played at more World Cups (six) than all the other five participants in the play-off combined (four).

And they have a domestic league that offers the most lucrative contracts anywhere in the world, which attracts world-class players.

The national team faltered under the watch of Roberto Mancini, though, and the returning Renard has struggled to get them singing again, like they did in beating Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.

Indonesia

Coach: Patrick Kluivert

Fifa ranking: 119

The lowest-ranked of the six sides in the play-offs, but they are much transformed after drafting in players from Indonesia’s diaspora.

In particular, their squad is drawn largely from players in the Netherlands – and they have a figurehead coach to try to get the best out of them.

Jordi Cruyff is the technical advisor to Indonesia’s FA, who appointed his former Barcelona teammate Kluivert as coach in the second half of the previous round of qualifying.

It was not a universally popular appointment, but he could win over the football-mad public in the country of 300 million if they qualify from the play-off.

They should also benefit from support in Jeddah. There is a substantial Indonesian community in the city, as well as Makkah.

Iraq

Coach: Graham Arnold

Fifa ranking: 58

The left-field appointment of Australian coach Graham Arnold in May might prove to be a masterstroke.

Although his playing career took him to the Netherlands, Belgium and Japan, almost all of the 62-year-old’s coaching career was spent in Australia previous to this post.

He coached Australia at the last World Cup, but what could prove invaluable might be how he helped them get there. Australia navigated a similar week-long play-off in Doha, involving the UAE and Peru, to make it to the Qatar World Cup.

The threat of Aymen Hussein, the focal point of Iraq’s attack, means they are dangerous outsiders for qualification.