MUSCAT: Oman national football team coach Branko Ivankovic has announced a 29-man squad for the upcoming domestic preparatory camp which will take place during September 1 to 8 in Muscat.
The camp will prepare the team for the preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 for the Fifa World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 which will begin in November.
Oman, ranked 72nd in the world, will face Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei/Timor Leste in Group D of the joint qualifiers.
Red Warriors’ star defender Mohammed al Musallami is back in the recently announced squad besides the other top players like Al Mundher al Alawi, Amjad al Harthy, Mohsin al Ghassani and others.
The coaching staff will finalise the squad after the few rounds of the top-tier league which will begin on August 17. The forthcoming list will be for the external camp which will be held in Minnesota, USA, in September which will feature an international friendly match against USA on September 12.
Oman will commence their campaign in the Preliminary Joint Qualification against the winner of Chinese Taipei or Timor Leste on November 16 in Muscat. Later, the Red Warriors will take on Kyrgyzstan in an away game on November 21 in Bishkek city before hosting Malaysia in Muscat on March 21, 2024.
Five days later, Oman will take on Malaysia again in an away match in Kuala Lumpur city ahead of playing against Chinese Taipei or Timor Leste on June 6, 2024. Oman team will conclude their qualifiers campaign by hosting Kyrgyzstan on June 11, 2024 in Muscat. The group matches will be based in round-robin format including home-and-away games. All the matches will be played during November 2023 and June 2024. The group winners from all the nine groups besides the runners-up will advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying. Meanwhile, all the qualified teams will confirm their presence in the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027.
Oman Squad: Ahmed al Rawahi, Amjad al Harthy, Yazed al Syiabi, Zahir al Aghbari, Abdullah Fawaz, Harib Jameel, Al Mundher al Alawi, Fahmi Said, Fayez al Rushedi, Mohammed al Musallami, Abdul Rahman al Mushefri, Arshad al Alawi, Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Salah al Yahyaei, Essam al Subhi, Ahmed al Kaabi, Musab al Maamari, Khalid al Buraiki, Juma al Habsi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Mohsin al Ghassani, Mohammed al Amri, Ahmed al Matroshi, Ali al Hinai, Omar al Malki, Mutaz Saleh, Ahmed al Adawi and Jameel al Yahmadi.
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