Oman draw Gulf rivals in U17 qualifiers

MUSCAT, AUGUST 27
Oman’s national under-17 football team have been drawn alongside Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and Brunei Darussalam in Group G of the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027 Qualifiers following the official draw held at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday.
Oman, who entered the draw as one of the seven top-seeded teams, will also have the advantage of hosting the Group G matches in Salalah as the young Red Warriors target a place in the continental finals.
A total of 35 teams were divided into seven groups of five during the draw, with the qualifying competition to be played in a single round-robin centralised format between November 8 and 20.
Only the winners of the seven groups will qualify for the AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027, making every match crucial in Oman’s bid to return to the continental stage.
The seven teams emerging from the qualifiers will join nine sides that have already secured their places in the finals — hosts Uzbekistan, Australia, China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Vietnam.
The AFC U17 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2027 is scheduled to take place from May 12 to 29.
Thursday’s draw sets up two all-Gulf encounters for Oman against Kuwait and Bahrain, while Lebanon and Brunei Darussalam complete a group in which the hosts will be looking to make full use of home advantage.
Oman are familiar with Bahrain after recently facing them twice as part of their preparation programme. The national U17 side concluded an internal training camp in Muscat, held from August 6 to 17, with the two friendly matches providing the coaching staff with an opportunity to assess the squad ahead of their upcoming assignments.
OMAN BOUNCE BACK
Bahrain won the first friendly 2-1 before Oman responded with a 2-0 victory in the second encounter at the Police Stadium. Mohammed al Omrani opened the scoring in the 17th minute before Bashar al Shamsi added the second in the 54th minute.
The camp, led by national head coach Ahmed bin Salem Bait Said, focused on technical, tactical and physical preparation as the coaching staff continued to evaluate players and work towards forming the squad for the Asian qualifiers.
Oman will be determined to go one step further after narrowly missing qualification for the 2026 AFC U17 Asian Cup. In the previous qualifying campaign in Myanmar, Oman finished second in their group with nine points, just one behind group winners Myanmar.
With the draw now confirmed, preparations are expected to intensify over the coming months as Oman look to capitalise on playing the qualifiers on home soil and claim the only qualification ticket available from Group G.