By Abdellatif Sharaa and Agencies
KUWAIT: The much-anticipated World Cup Asian FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Kuwait and Iraq ended in a goalless draw. 60,000 fans jammed Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium early Tuesday afternoon although the match was scheduled for 9:00 pm. The match was in the second round of World Cup 2026 qualifiers during which Kuwait raised its total points to two while Iraq now has 4 points equaling those with Jordan and South Korea.
It was obvious that the Iraq team suffered due to the absence of its top scorer Ayman Hussein, then seven minutes in the match defender Sulaqa was red carded after fouling Kuwait’s forward Yousuf Nasser. Kuwait had control as far as possession was concerned for significant time as the Iraqis resorted to defending but did not create any threats on the goal.
Iraq’s team was highly dangerous when executing free kicks. The second half was better for Kuwait and had few chances, and then the referee gave Kuwait a penalty kick only to reverse his decision after referring to VAR.
Kuwait’s coach attempted to take advantage of Iraq’s 10-man team with several substitutions but Iraq defended very well and came out with a precious point out of the encounter.
Kuwait’s team included players Mohammad Duham, Yousuf Nasser, Ahmad Al-Dhafiri, Faisal Zayed, Redha Hani, Sultan Al-Enezi, Mushari Ghannam, Khalid Ibrahim, Fahad Al-Hajiri, Sami Al-Sane and goal keeper Suleiman Abdelghafour.
The Iraqi team included goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, Zaid Tahseen, Merkhas Dousky, Rabeen Sulaqa, Mustafa Saadoun, Ahmad Yahya, Ameer Al-Ammari, Ibrahim Bayesh, Yousuf Al-Ameen, Zaidan Iqbal, and Ali Alhammadi.
Meanwhile, Australia football head coach Graham Arnold said his side were "extremely disappointed” after their goal-drought continued into a second World Cup qualifier, this time leading to a 0-0 draw with Indonesia in Jakarta.
The Socceroos dominated in front of almost 80,000 fans at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Tuesday, but sit second-from-bottom of Group C with a single point from their opening two qualifying games. Australia again failed to score following their shock 1-0 defeat at home to Bahrain last week in their opening qualifier.
The Socceroos had 19 shots against Indonesia and dominated possession to force 15 corners, but still could not hit the back of the net. "It was a vastly improved performance, but we’re extremely disappointed because how many chances do we create? How many chances do we give?” said an exasperated Arnold. "It’s been a common theme for over a year.”
Arnold praised his team for dominating the game despite the hostile home crowd, but rued the result. "The boys put in the effort. They all admitted their performance wasn’t good enough in the first game (against Bahrain),” he added.
Earlier, Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu hit out at Bahrain fans for trying to distract his players with laser pointers and booing his country’s national anthem during their World Cup qualifying clash.
Japan won 5-0 in Manama to continue their impressive start to the Asian qualifying third round, following last week’s 7-0 home thrashing of China. But Moriyasu was incensed by fans who aimed a green laser light at striker Ayase Ueda’s eyes as he prepared to take a first-half penalty, which he scored.
The coach was also left fuming after home fans booed the Japanese anthem before the game at Bahrain’s National Stadium on Tuesday. "Different countries have different cultures and worldviews and I want to accept that diversity,” said Moriyasu.
"But I would like to see an end to the booing that happened during the national anthems at today’s game, and the attempts to obstruct my players, which could have done them physical damage.”
Ueda kept his cool despite the distraction and tucked his penalty past goalkeeper Ebrahim Lutfalla to open the scoring in the 37th minute.
The Feyenoord striker doubled Japan’s lead early in the second half before Hidemasa Morita notched a brace and Koki Ogawa scored a fifth to complete the rout.