Near the end of March, the pace of the World Preliminary Tournament will also come again, the continental competition is basically coming to an end, some of the qualifying teams have been produced, the National Football Team is located in the Asian region with 2 rounds left, the current qualifying situation is basically clear, the top three in Group B have been locked in Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia, the last 2 rounds determine the ranking of the three teams, the top 2 directly advance, the third place is to participate in the play-offs, the current backlog of 15 points in Australia is not good, only the national football team to block Saudi Arabia can hope to see the hope of the top two.
Iran and South Korea have locked the top two of Group A in advance, so the remaining teams are also competing for the third place, and the best situation at present is the United Arab Emirates, with 9 points, 6 points ahead of the fourth-place Lebanon, while the fifth-place Iraq has only 5 points, and Syria has 2 points and has been out of the game in advance. In the past three matches, the UAE has played a phenomenal performance and rose rapidly, first taking Lebanon 1-0 in the 6th round to tie the opponent on points, and then 2-0 Syria in the 7th round, consolidating its third place position.
Although it lost 0-1 to Iran in the 8th round, it also played a high-quality attack and defense, after all, Iran is the no. 1 in Asia. The UAE's opponent is Iraq, the strength is dominant, if it can win, as long as Lebanon does not win, then the Group A World Cup qualifying opportunities will be distributed, the UAE will participate in the play-offs.
Of course, even if the UAE loses in the 9th round and Lebanon wins, then the UAE's current three goal difference advantage will play a role and it is still expected to remain in third place. If they can pass the test of the play-offs, the United Arab Emirates will qualify for the World Cup for the second time in 22 years, the last time in 1990.
To know that after the 5th round, the UAE is also 3 points, the points at that time are not even as good as the national football team, the latter has 4 points, but then it is a world of difference, the UAE state broke out, 3 games to get 6 points, while the national football team is only 1 point, during the period also rewarded the change of coach, now it is only 5 points, thrown down by the UAE 4 points. Before the 12 draw, the national football team and the United Arab Emirates still belonged to the 4th gear, the difference is that the United Arab Emirates still maintains the hope of qualifying for the World Cup, while the national football team can only prepare for the next World Cup.