MUSCAT: Oman football coach Jaroslav Silhavy, announced the list of the 29 players for the camp in Spain from July 3 to 24. The list features new faces like Al Wahda’s goalie Ibrahim al Rajhi, Sultan al Marzooq (Dhofar), Khalid al Ghatreefi (Ibri), Jawad al Azi (Al Seeb). Mohammed al Ghafri (Al Rustaq) and Nasser al Rawahi (Oman club) came back to the team. Al Rawahi replaced Hatim al Roushdi in the last gathering of the national team.
The camp is classified as an essential stage for the team’s preparation for the upcoming Gulf Cup, which will be held in December in Kuwait, and the Asian qualifiers to the Fifa World Cup 2026. The draw of the third and last round matches of the qualifiers will take place on Thursday.
Oman came in fourth level for the draw alongside Bahrain and the UAE. While Asian heavyweights Japan, Iran and South Korea were grouped as the continent’s highest-ranked side. Asian Champions Qatar, Australia and Iraq placed in level two. Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Jordan in level three. China, Palestine and Kyrgyzstan in level five. While Kuwait clubbed with Indonesia and North Korea in group six level.
The exciting matches of the deciding qualifiers will start on September 5 with the second round on 10th from the same month. The third and fourth rounds will be held on October 10 and 15 respectively. There will be two matches on November 14 and 19 while the seventh and eighth rounds of matches will be held on March 20 and 25, 2025. The ninth and tenth rounds will be played on June 5 and 10, 2025.
The qualified 18 teams will be divided into three groups with six teams each. The top two teams from each group will secure a direct spot at the 2026 Fifa World Cup while the teams that finish in third and fourth places will advance to the fourth round, which begins in October 2025 to complete a quota of eight and a half slots.
Oman ended the second round of the joint qualifiers in the top of group D by 13 points from four victories, one draw and loss against Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek by 1-0. Coach Silhavy registered two crucial victories for Red Warriors since he took charge in February against Malaysia in Muscat and Kuala Lumpur beside a draw against Kyrgyzstan in Muscat at the joint preliminary qualification of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 and Fifa World Cup 2026 during the last two months.
Oman Squad: Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Fayez al Rushedi, Ahmed al Rawahi, Ibrahim al Rajhi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Mohammed al Musallami, Khalid al Buraiki, Ghanim al Habshi, Ali al Busaidy, Ahmed al Kaabi, Amjad al Harthy, Abdulaziz al Shmoosi, Harib al Saadi, Abdullah Fawaz, Salah al Yahyaei, Omar al Malki, Zaher al Aghbari, Arshad al Alawi, Jameel al Yahmadi, Abdulrahman al Mushefri, Musaab al Maamari, Mohsin al Ghassani, Essam al Subhi, Nasser al Rawahi, Mohammed al Ghafri, Sultan al Marzooq, Khalid al Ghatrefi, Jawad al Azi and Mohammed Humaid al Ghafri.
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