The Oman national team achieved an important victory in the last minutes over its guest, the Palestine national team, 1-0, today, Thursday, in the fifth round of the second group of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in America, Mexico and Canada.
Mohsen Al-Ghassani scored the only goal of the match for the Omani team in the 83rd minute.
The Oman national team raised its score to six points, in the group that includes Iraq and Jordan, each with 8 points, after a 0-0 draw, while the Palestine national team occupies sixth and last place with two points.
South Korea leads the group with 13 points, while Kuwait ranks fifth (penultimate) with three points.
The advantage at the beginning of the match was in favor of the Omani team, which had possession of the ball and tried to control the midfield, getting its first dangerous attempt in the seventh minute, when Nasser Al Rawahi snatched the ball from defender Mohammed Saleh on the right side before rushing with the ball towards the penalty area, but he shot. The ball is weak near the left post.
After that, the performance of the Palestinian team improved, as it tried to leave its back areas and rely on sending long balls into the penalty area, where the spearhead, Wissam Abu Ali, was located, but without a clear threat to the opponent’s goal.
Omani defender Ahmed Al Khamisi led a quick attack from the midfield before hitting a powerful ground ball from outside the penalty area that came easily into the arms of goalkeeper Rami Hamada in the 29th minute. The Palestinian team responded with an attempt two minutes later through Abu Ali, who shot a powerful ball from the left side of the area. The penalty was towards the middle of the goal, and goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini was waiting.
The Palestinian team missed the opportunity to open the scoring when Musab Al-Battat sent a high cross from the right side towards the middle of the penalty area, and Abu Ali rose to it before turning it with his head towards the left corner. The Omani goalkeeper excelled in deflecting it to a corner in the 33rd minute.
The Palestine national team continued its advantage and had more than one dangerous attempt, most notably by the dangerous Abu Ali, who followed Mahmoud Abu Warda’s cross from the right side, but his ball passed near the right post in the 36th minute, then was immediately followed by Atta Jaber’s shot from the outskirts of the area, which passed close to the post. The left side was the last chance of the first half, which ended in a goalless draw.
At the beginning of the second half, Palestinian national team coach Makram Dabboub brought in Wajdi Nabhan and Muhammad Bassem instead of Muhammad Khalil and Amid Mahajna. The first serious attempts in this half came for Palestine when Uday al-Dabbagh led a quick attack from the right side before shooting a powerful ground ball from outside the area. The goalkeeper succeeded. In controlling the ball in two passes in the 50th minute.
On the other hand, Omani national team coach Rashid Jaber brought in players Arshad Alawi and Zahir Al-Aghbari instead of Abdullah Fawaz and Nasser Al-Rawahi in an attempt to activate the front line and reach the opposing team’s goal. He missed the opportunity to score in the 67th minute, when Mohsen Ghassani led a quick attack from the corridor. The left winger went one-on-one through the goal before defender Michele Termanini pushed the ball past him at the last minute for a corner.
Al-Mukhaini blocked a powerful shot from Wissam Abu Ali in the 68th minute, then another shot from his teammate Zaid Qanbar, to continue protecting the Oman national team’s goal with distinction.
Attempts were exchanged by both teams, and this time when Jamil Al-Yahmedi passed a through ball towards substitute Issam Al-Subhi on the right side of the penalty area, he shot a powerful shot towards the far corner. The Palestinian goalkeeper excelled in controlling the ball in the 77th minute.
After that, the Omani team succeeded in reaching the net in the 83rd minute following a quick attack led by Al-Subhi from the right side, through which he penetrated into the penalty area before shooting the ball towards the narrow corner. The goalkeeper Hamada blocked it before it reached Al-Ghassani, who in turn followed it from the first touch in the match. Goal.
The last minutes of the second half witnessed many attempts by the Palestinian team to score an equalizer, but the Omani team succeeded in maintaining its lead until the referee blew the whistle to end the second half and the match.
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