The round of 36 in Asia has been played in two rounds, and among the 9 seeded teams, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq have all won in a row, while Iran has won one and drawn one, and only Oman has lost the game and has become the worst seeded team in the round of 36 in advance. Imagine if the national football team and Oman were in the same group, then the chances of qualifying from the group would be very high, but unfortunately, they were unlucky enough to be in the same group as Kyrgyzstan.
Oman, a strong team in the West Asian zone, have never played in a World Cup final, but this time, the quota place in the Asian zone has increased to 85, which gives the team hope of qualifying. Ranked ninth, they were fortunate to be seeded in the round of 36 and were drawn to avoid the top Asian teams such as Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Iran in the group draw to finish in Group D, alongside Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei.
As the seeded team, Oman beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the first round of home matches, beating Malaysia on goal difference and topping the group. However, Oman suffered a setback when they faced Kyrgyzstan in Pot 2 away in the second round. According to the stats, Oman had only 42% possession throughout the game, and fell into the underdog, failing to get a single shot on target from six shots, and finally lost 0-1 to Kyrgyzstan, becoming the first seeded team to lose in the round of 36.
Meanwhile, Malaysia, who are in Pot 3, continued their winning streak with two straight wins to reach six points ahead of Oman and top the group. As a seeded team, Oman had no choice but to accept defeat when playing away from Pot 2. Imagine if the national football team had faced Oman not South Korea but Oman in the second round of home matches, it would certainly not have fallen into a passive situation, suffered such a heavy defeat, and also had a chance to score the crucial three points.
At present, Oman is the most serious situation of the nine seeded teams, as they are not only unable to beat Kyrgyzstan, but also difficult to beat Malaysia. According to the schedule, Oman will face Malaysia in the next two consecutive rounds, and may lose one more game, or even get three points in both rounds, and the qualification situation will become very passable. Our national team was unlucky not to be in the same group as the weakest seeded team, Oman, and if they were in the same group, there was at least a 90% chance that they would be able to finish in the top two of the group and make it through.
The national team will face a string of matches against Singapore, a lower-ranked team in Southeast Asia, who need to win at least four points in those two games. In addition, if the national football team can beat Thailand at home in the fifth round, it is possible to secure qualification ahead of schedule.