Oman seek King’s Cup final berth in Thailand

MUSCAT: Oman will face Tajikistan in the semifinals of the 52nd King’s Cup on Saturday, with a place in Tuesday’s final at stake. The match kicks off at 1 pm Oman time (4 pm in Thailand) at Sisaket Provincial Stadium, also known as Ko Klang Nam Stadium.
The Red Warriors arrived in Bangkok on November 8 after a three-day domestic camp in Muscat. Their first session in Thailand was a light workout in the rain, with head coach Tarik Sektioui easing the players back into training after the journey. The squad then settled into daily sessions that combined fitness work with tactical drills and gave the returning players time to work with their teammates.
Sektioui has taken a 27-player squad to Thailand. Defender Khalid al Buraiki withdrew after suffering a fractured nose while playing for Al Shabab in the Gulf Club Champions League. The squad includes returning playmaker Salah al Yahyaei and winger Abdulrahman al Mushaifri, as well as striker Essam al Subhi, who plays his club football in Thailand with Port FC.
The match gives Oman a chance to build on their run to the semifinals of the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup in Jeddah, where they lost 1-0 to the UAE. Oman are ranked 81st in the world, 19 places above Tajikistan, but the sides played out a 1-1 draw at the 2023 CAFA Nations Cup, with Al Yahyaei scoring for Oman.
Tajikistan, coached by Igor Angelovski, brought a 24-player squad to Sisaket after a two-day camp in Dushanbe.
Hosts Thailand face Brunei in Saturday’s other semifinal at 4:30 pm Oman time. The winners meet in the final on November 17, while the losing sides will contest the third-place play-off earlier that day at the same venue.
The two matches in Thailand give Sektioui an opportunity to assess his options ahead of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027. The Asian Football Confederation has rescheduled the tournament from December 23, 2027, to January 21, 2028.