Sports

Oman clubbed with Kuwait, Thailand and Iraq in beach soccer

 
MUSCAT, DEC 19

Oman beach soccer team are clubbed with Bahrain, Malaysia and Vietnam in group D in the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand 2025 which will be held in Pattaya from March 20 to 30, 2025.

The hosts Thailand are paired in group A with Kuwait, Lebanon and India while three-time winners Japan will face China, Saudi Arabia and Iraq in group B. Title holders Iran will seek for their fourth title as they were drawn with two-time champions the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Indonesia in group C.

The event will act as qualifiers to the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup as the top three teams will secure their berths allocated for Asian continent to attend and vie in the forthcoming Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in Seychelles in 2025.



The draw of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup took place on Thursday at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. All the 16 participating teams were divided into four groups and the top two finishers from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.

Oman, ranked 1th internationally, will eye to rekindle the memories of the 2015 AFC Beach Soccer Championship as the team had managed to win the event which was hosted in Qatar at Katara beach. In the final match, Oman defeated Japan to be crowned champions and both teams together with third place Iran qualified for the 2015 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup.

In the last edition of Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2024 which was hosted in UAE, Oman under technical guidance of experienced coach Talib Hilal were very close to advance to the knockout stage for the first time but they had received a defeat in the dying minutes against Portugal in the last match.



Oman had began their campaign in the Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai with a 5-3 defeat against the five times champion Brazil despite the top show in the game. Then, Oman team had bounced back strongly in the following match to register a 5-2 win over Mexico before they had received to a 3-2 sudden loss against Portugal in the third and concluding game of the group matches.