Doha: Today, Wednesday, the 30th of August, the head coach of the national team, Carlos Queiroz, met with club coaches at the headquarters of the National Teams at Aspire Academy to discuss plans and coordinate for the upcoming season. The marrons will feature in the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™. Group A saw Qatar, India, Kuwait and the winners of the Round 1 tie between Afghanistan or Mongolia drawn together. Thirty-six nations were drawn into nine groups of four, and they will compete against each team in a home-and-away round-robin format between November 2023 and June 2024. All nine group winners and the respective runners-up will advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying, and at the same time seal their places at the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027. The draw for the third round of the global showpiece in 2026 will be conducted in 2024, where the 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six; the top two from each group will qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The other two direct AFC entrants will be determined in the fourth round of World Cup qualifying, with one more possible berth available via an Intercontinental Playoff. The other 18 teams from Round 2 will proceed directly to the third and final round of AFC Asian Cup qualifying. More details on the latter qualifying stages will be released in due course.