Qualifying play-offs for FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 announced

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Ahead of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021™ draw on Tuesday, 27 April (21:00 local time), the qualifying matches for the tournament have been decided.

Of the 23 nations involved, the 14 lowest-ranked teams according to the April edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking will participate in single-leg play-offs ahead of the tournament, which will be held later this year.

The play-offs were decided according to the rankings, as follows:

Oman (FIFA World Ranking: 80) vs Somalia (197)
Lebanon (93) vs Djibouti (183)
Jordan (95) vs South Sudan (169)
Bahrain (99) vs Kuwait (148)
Mauritania (101) vs Yemen (145)
Palestine (104) vs Comoros (131)
Libya (119) vs Sudan (123)

The seven winning teams will join the nine highest-ranked teams who have already qualified for the tournament: host nation Qatar (58), Tunisia (26), Algeria (33), Morocco (34), Egypt (46), Saudi Arabia (65), Iraq (68), the United Arab Emirates (73) and Syria (79).

The tournament will consist of a group stage and knockout rounds. The 16 teams will be split into four groups of four, with the top two from each progressing to the quarter-finals. Matches will be played at six FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ tournament venues.

Tuesday’s draw will be made by four FIFA legends: Wael Gomaa (Egypt), Nawaf Al Temyat (Saudi Arabia), Haytham Mustafa (Sudan) and Younus Mahmood (Iraq), along with FIFA’s Director of Competitions, Manolo Zubiria.

A limited number of officials will attend the draw, in line with Qatar’s COVID-19 protocols. Information on broadcasting the draw will follow tomorrow.

The FIFA Arab Cup™ is seen as an important opportunity to test operations and facilities ahead of Qatar 2022. Both tournaments will take place in a similar timeslot, with the finals of each scheduled to take place exactly one year apart – on 18 December, Qatar’s National Day.