Oman can clinch a spot in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup with a victory over Kyrgyzstan on Thursday at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
The White Falcons were beaten 2-0 by Saudi Arabia on matchday two, while Oman moved a point above them for third in Group F after playing to a 0-0 draw with Thailand.
Match preview
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Four years after their first appearance in the finals of the Asian Cup, Kyrgyzstan find themselves in the same position this time around, losing their first two encounters.
A lack of discipline put this team on the back foot early into their match with Saudi Arabia as they were reduced to 10 men five minutes after the opening whistle, incurring another red card early in the second half.
Just like in 2019, they will need a victory on matchday three to have any hope of advancing, and four years ago, they delivered, defeating the Philippines in their final group fixture to move on (3-1).
Stefan Tarkovic's side have failed to score on consecutive occasions for the first time since October 2023, while this team have won just one of their last six matches in all competitions.
With a goal differential of -4, their only likely path into the last 16 is to win this game and hope several teams currently ahead of them fail to triumph on matchday three.
Last November, the White Falcons claimed their first victory against Oman, scoring a few minutes into the second half to claim their first triumph of 2026 World Cup qualifying.
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After hanging back and defending for long stretches of their opening fixture, we saw a much more aggressive approach by Oman on matchday two.
Against Thailand, they had 70% of the ball throughout the 90 minutes but could only register one effort on target, though they posted their first clean sheet at the Asian Cup since 2007 (0-0 draw with Iraq).
Branko Ivankovic's men have not conceded an opening-half goal since suffering a 4-1 defeat in a friendly versus the USA in September 2023.
In 2019, this team were in a similar position as they are now, without a point from their first two fixtures, and they delivered with a 3-1 triumph over Turkmenistan to make the knockout stage of this tournament for the first time four years ago.
This is their fifth appearance in this competition, and in each of their previous finals appearances Oman have claimed at least one triumph.
While they were beaten in their previous meeting versus Kyrgyzstan, this side have won three of four meetings against them all time without conceding a single goal in any of those victories.
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Team News
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Kyrgyzstan will be without Ayzar Akmatov and Kimi Merk, who were each given straight red cards early in the first and second half respectively of their match with Saudi Arabia.
We saw three newcomers in their starting 11 on matchday two, with Aleksandr Mishchenko, Khristiyan Brauzman and Ernist Batyrkanov replacing Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov, Kai Merk and Joel Kojo.
Amantur Shamurzaev collected his first international cap on matchday two, replacing Bekzhan Sagynbayev late in the second half, making Eldiyar Zarypbekov and Sultan Chomoev the only players on this Asian Cup squad without an appearance for the senior side.
Tamim Al-Balushi missed the previous encounter for Oman due to a cruciate ligament rupture and is unlikely to feature for the remainder of this tournament.
Ivankovic went with the same starting 11 on matchday two, though he brought on three different substitutes who did not play in their opener, with Zahir Al-Aghbari, Omar Al-Malki and Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri all making their first appearances of this competition.
Between the sticks, Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini stopped both of the Thailand efforts on matchday two, collecting his first clean sheet of the tournament.
Kyrgyzstan possible starting lineup:
Tokotayev, Brauzman, Kozubaev, uulu, Sagynbaev; Almazbekov, Abdurakhmanov, Dzhumashev, Alykulov; Kojo, Batyrkanov
Oman possible starting lineup:
Al-Mukaini; Al-Harthi, Al-Braiki, Al-Khamisi, Al-Kaabi; Al-Saadi; Al-Yahmadi, Fawaz; Al-Yahyaei; Al-Sabhi, Al-Ghassani
We say: Kyrgyzstan 0-1 Oman
Kyrgyzstan came unglued on matchday two, and we believe they will have trouble breaking down an organised Oman side who are a little unfortunate to be winless thus far.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.