27-06-2025
Oman U-23 gears up for Asian qualifiers
MUSCAT, JUNE 27
The newly elected Oman Football Association Chairman, Sayyid Sulaiman bin Hamood al Busaidy, attended the Olympic football team training sessions on Thursday at Royal Oman Court Affairs stadium in Al Khoudh, as part of the team's preparations for the upcoming AFC U-23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers which is scheduled to take place in early September.
The chief of OFA was briefed by the coaching staff of the team headed by coach Badar al Maimani and his assistant Sultan al Touqi on the team's programme for the last period and the forthcoming phase ahead of the qualifiers campigan start.
The team began their domestic camp in Muscat on Monday and will run until Wednesday.
Coach Badar opted 24 players for this camp including two players from UAE's youth league as he called Hamed al Naimi (Al Majd SC) and Mazin al Harrasi (Aldhafra FC). The 10 days camp included mostly from the evening training sessions as the coaching staff are putting their tactics on the selected names of the squad and they will finalise the list ahead of the qualifiers star.
The Oman Olympic U-23 national football team concluded earlier this month ten-day overseas training camp in Russia. The Moscow's gathering camp featured three friendly matches including two against the Russia Olympic team and one against Saturn Ramenskoye FC. The first match ended in a 1-0 loss for Oman, followed by a goalless draw in the second encounter. The final match against Saturn Ramenskoye FC ended with a narrow 1-0 win for the latter. Despite the match results, coaching staff assessed the player readiness, experiment with lineups and address both offensive and defensive strategies. Furthermore, the players gained valuable experience competing against strong international sides and the camp enhanced team cohesion and on-field communication.
Oman team will compete in Group F alongside Iraq, Pakistan and hosts Cambodia at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers. The qualification matches will run from September 1 to 9, with Oman opening their campaign against Cambodia on September 3, facing Iraq on September 6 and concluding against Pakistan on September 9. The group winners and the best four runners-up across all groups will qualify for the finals, joining the host nation Saudi Arabia. Prior to the Russia camp, Oman completed a domestic training phase in Muscat in May and the internal camp featured two warm-up matches including a 2-1 loss to the Royal Court Affairs team and a goalless draw with the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO).
Squad: Jawad al Azi, Osama al Mahrouqi, Nasser al Saqri, Sameer al Hatmi, Said al Ghanbousi, Mohammed Abdulhakim, Abdulaziz al Shaqsi, Loqman al Jadidi, Essa al Buraidi, Rashad al Dhaeen, Osama Majdi, Ziyad al Rasbi, Mohammed al Oraibi, Nayef Faraj, Sultan al Marzooq, Turki Abdullah, Ahed al Mashakheyi, Abdulaleem al Rawahi, Ali al Balushi, Abdulhadi al Manwari, Ibrahim al Kindi, Masoud al Bahri, Hamed al Naimi and Mazin al Harrasi.
