MENA Sports Wrap: Saudi, Qatar qualify for 2026 World Cup, while Oman sees cricket triumph

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have booked their place at next year's World Cup, following a crucial Qatari win against the UAE and a satisfactory draw for the Saudis against Iraq this week.

Meanwhile, Oman and the UAE also secured spots in the cricket T20 World Cup, due to be held in Sri Lanka in January.

MENA football fans in the UK will be able to catch some glimpses of the Saudi Pro League, with Sky Sports due to broadcast highlights of games from this week.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia secure places in World Cup

Qatar and Saudi Arabia qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this week, making them the sixth and seventh Arab nations to take part in next year's competition.

The Qatari team played a crunch match against the UAE on Tuesday, sinking the Emiratis with two second-half goals, which was enough to book a place in the finals next year.

After a goalless first half, captain Boualem Khoukhi gave Qatar the lead with a header four minutes into the second half, while defender Pedro Miguel extended their lead with a second header in the 74th minute.

The UAE, however, managed to offer a glimmer of hope for their side with a goal from Sultan Adil in the eighth minute of additional time, but it wasn't enough to inch them closer to qualification.

The UAE only needed a draw to directly qualify, but Qatar managed to hold on - meaning they will take part in their second-ever World Cup, having been hosts for the last edition.

Saudi Arabia, the more experienced Gulf nation at the World Cup, were held to a draw against Iraq also on Tuesday but this was also enough to qualify.

Herve Renard's side only needed a point against Graham Arnold's Iraq, and an injury-time save by goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi to keep out Hassan Abdulkareem's curling free kick ensured the Saudis confirmed their progress.

Both the Iraqi and Saudi sides struggled to break through in the first half, with an effort from Saleh Anu Al-Shamat, which saw him shoot over the crossbar in the 13th minute.

Star striker Salem Al-Dawsari and teammate Nasser Al-Dawsari were both denied by Iraq’s goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, later on.

The result means Saudi Arabia win Group B of the fourth round of Asia's preliminaries, finishing on four points with the Iraqis but ahead on goals scored, after their 3-2 win over Indonesia last month.

Despite their results, Iraq and the UAE still have a chance to qualify for the tournament as both teams will now enter a play-off process involving teams from other continental federations next month.

Both sides will play each other in a two-leg play-off in November, with the winner advancing to an inter-confederation play-off.

Oman and UAE qualify for T2o cricket World Cup

Oman and the UAE secured two of three final spots for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 this week following Asian qualifiers held in the sultanate over two weeks.

Oman started their Asia/East Asia-Pacific Qualifier campaign with bluster, seeing off Samoa with five wickets to spare.  

They went on to beat their Gulf neighbour, the UAE, in a crunch game by five wickets at the Al-Amerat ground in Muscat, before defeating Qatar on Sunday with a 32-run win.

Earlier that week, they achieved another impressive 52-run win against Papua New Guinea.

Oman lost to Nepal on Wednesday, but their place had already been guaranteed by that point. They ended a highly successful campaign with a final match against Japan on Friday, where they smashed the visitors with a nine-wicket win.

The UAE took the final spot for the T20 World Cup 2026, which will be held in Sri Lanka in January, following a comfortable eight-wicket win over Japan on Thursday.

UK's Sky Sports to screen Saudi Pro League football next season

Sky Sports will screen Saudi Pro League football next season, in a sign of the growing influence of the game in Europe.

This will include clips, highlights, and "live in-game action" of the next round of Saudi Pro League games, beginning 16 October, although Sky told The New Arab this will not include full-match broadcasts, at least for now.

English Premier League fans will be familiar with many of the big names playing Saudi football, including Ivan Toney, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Joao Felix, and N'Golo Kante.

The news will be a boost for the Saudi Pro League and government, who have pumped hundreds of millions into the sport to boost its international profile.

Critics accuse the government of "sports washing " to distract from criticisms of the kingdom's human rights record, while others see it as a top-down attempt to boost 'Brand Saudi' to a global audience or a soft nudge at its growing young population to take a greater interest in sports and health.

Despite attracting stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, the Saudi Pro League's reputation has still not reached global levels of interest, with the Transfer Room's Players' Rating index two years ago ranking it 16th in the world.

Since then, the Saudi Pro League has continued to grow, with Saudi teams having some success on a continental level, such as Al-Ahli picking up the AFC Champions League Elite trophy last season.