Bangladesh finish WC qualifiers campaign losing 3-0 to Oman

Bangladesh finished their FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers campaign with a losing note as the boys in red and green suffered a 0–3 goal defeat to favorite Oman held on Tuesday evening at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

The winners’ dominated the entire proceeding by leading the first half by 1-0 goal. The remaining two goals came for Oman in the second half.

Oman, who launched attacks in the beginning of the match, took the lead in the 23rd minute when Khalid Khalifa Al-Hajri, after receiving a pass, controlled the ball nicely to square it for unmarked Mohammed Mubarak Al-Ghafri, who tapped ball from close range.

Bangladesh also came close to level the margin in the 29th minute when left-back Yeasin Arafat saw his goal-bound header brilliantly saved by Oman custodian Faiyz Issa.

After the breather, Oman continued their onslaught creating series of attacks making the Bangladesh backline helpless. Striker Khalid Al Hajri doubled the lead for Oman in the 61st minute and he finally sealed the victory scoring his second and third for his team in the 81st minutes.

The goal margin could have been more widened if Oman would not miss some real scoring chances in the second half.

With the day’s defeat, winless Bangladesh finished bottom of the group E table with two points while Oman, who already secured their berth in the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as one of the best five runners-up, finished with 18 points.

India also qualified for Asian Cup Qualifiers directly after finishing third on the back of a 1-1 draw against Afghanistan in the day’s first match, have seven points while Afghanistan finished fourth in the table with six points. Qatar have sealed top spot in Group E with an unassailable 22 points.

Ranked 184th by FIFA, Bangladesh failed to win any of their eight matches in qualifying so far, with 1-1 draw with Afghanistan in their first match and 0-2 defeat to India on Monday last and finally finish bottom of Group E losing the day’s match to Oman, who are 80th in FIFA World ranking.

Earlier the round of qualification between Bangladesh and Oman took place in 2019 and ended with a confident victory of Oman with a convincing score of 4-1 margin.

Squads:

Bangladesh – Anisur Rahman, Yeasin Arafat, Topu Barman, Rimon Hossain, Matin Miah, Ibrahim, Tariq Raihan, Mohammad Abdullah, Riyadul Hasan, Manik Hossainh and Rakib Hossain.

Oman – Fahmi Said Bait, Arshad Said, Amjad Al-Harthi, Khalid Khalifa, Mohsin Al Khaldi, Khalid Nasser, Ahmed Al Kaabi, Jameel Al Yahmadi, Mohammed Mubarak, Faiyz Issa and Omer Talib.

Referee – Ali MHMT Shaban (Kuwait)