Oman hit Kuwait for four

Muscat, OCT 10

Oman came back to winning ways in the World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers Group B by posting their first win against Kuwait by 4-0 in Muscat on Thursday night.

For the hosts, Abdulrahman al Mushaifri scored a brace while Mohsin al Ghassani and Abdullah Fawaz netted one each.

The Red Warriors under their new national head coach Rasheed Jaber, opened the match with high pressure on the Kuwait goal.

The first chance was in the second minute through a direct shot from outside the box which was blocked by Kuwait goalkeeper Sulaiman Abdulgafor for a corner kick.

In the fourth minute, Salah al Yahyaei was alone in the box area, but the shot went straight to the Kuwaiti goalkeeper's hands.

Oman midfielder Abdulrahman al Mushaifri opened the scoring through a pass from Salah al Yahyaei inside the box in the 16th minute.

In the 30th minute, Oman strengthened their position with a header from Mohsin al Ghassani after a wonderful pass from Omar al Busaidy. Al Ghassani's well-placed header gave no chance for Kuwait goalkeeper.

Kuwait's first direct shot was in the 40th minute by striker Yousef Nasser, as it was outside of the right post of the Omani goalkeeper Ibrahim al Mukhaini.

The first half ended with Oman leading by two goals to nothing, as the possession ratio was 71 per cent for Oman, with 5 shots on goal for Oman and nothing for Kuwait, the accuracy of the passes was 92 per cent for Oman and 82 per cent for Kuwait, and number of passes were 361 for Oman and 150 for Kuwait.

CONFIDENT DISPLAY

The Red Warriors entered the second half with high confidence, as they continued to have full control of the match. In the 58th minute, Abdulrahman al Mushaifri scored his second goal in the match to give the team and Omani fans complete comfort.

Oman coach Rasheed Jaber made changes by replacing Abdullah Fawaz with Salah al Yahyaei, Abdulrahman al Mushaifri with Zahir al Aghbari, and Issam al Subhi with Mohsin al Ghassani in the 70th minute.

Midfielder Abdullah Fawaz confirmed Oman's domination in the 79th minute as he scored the fourth goal for the team.

In the second half, the possession ratio was 66 per cent for Oman, with 17 shots on goal for Oman and 8 for Kuwait, the accuracy of the passes was 90 per cent for Oman and 82 per cent for Kuwait, and number of passes were 590 for Oman and 300 for Kuwait.

Abdulrahman al Mushaifri was elected as the player of the match.

South Korea topped Group B with seven points after beating Jordan on Thursday evening, three points ahead of Iraq who face Palestine later on Thursday, and three points from Jordan in third place.

Oman are fourth with three points, Kuwait two points behind Palestine who are in sixth place before the Iraq-Palestine match.

Oman will next play Jordan at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on October 15.