Saudi Arabia claimed a 0-0 draw with Iraq in Jeddah on Tuesday to seal qualification for next year's World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico – its seventh time to do so.
Herve Renard's side only needed a point against Graham Arnold's Iraq, and an injury-time save by goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi to keep out Hassan Abdulkareem's curling free kick ensured the Saudis confirmed their progress.
"I was expecting a lot of people but the atmosphere was fantastic, the fans pushed the players," Renard said. "Even though Salem (Al-Dawsari) got the man of the match, I think this evening it was the fans.
"It has not been easy a few months ago, but we did it and this is the most important."
The result means Saudi Arabia win Group B of the fourth round of Asia's preliminaries, finishing level on four points with the Iraqis but ahead of their neighbors on goals scored after recording a 3-2 win over third-place finishers Indonesia.
Iraq, meanwhile, will face the United Arab Emirates in a two-legged clash next month to determine who will progress to the intercontinental playoffs, which will be held in March.
Both sides struggled throughout a tense opening 45 minutes played in front of more than 60,000 fans, with Saleh Abu Al-Shamat posing the greatest threat to the Iraqi defense as he shot over the bar in the 13th minute.
The Al-Ahli forward unlocked the visitors' defense soon after the restart when he played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Feras Al-Brikan, the striker fizzing a ball across the face of goal from which Saud Abdulhamid shot wide.
Al-Shamat continued to cause problems for the visitors, but Jalal Hassan threw himself to his left to keep out a goal-bound strike six minutes after the restart.
Hassan then denied Saudi captain Salem Al-Dawsari as the opportunities increased in regularity, with Nasser Al-Dawsari also frustrated by the Iraqi goalkeeper in the 63rd minute.
A last-ditch tackle by Hassan Al-Tambkti stopped Iraqi forward Mohanad Ali on a rare sortie forward 15 minutes from time while Abdulkareem went closest of all for his team deep into injury time.
However, his curling left-foot free kick from 25 yards out was pushed to safety by Al-Aqidi when he dived to his right and the Saudis prevailed to qualify for a seventh World Cup since making their debut in 1994.
Elsewhere, Qatar also qualified to the World Cup after edging the UAE 2-1 in Doha.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar became the seventh and eighth teams to qualify from Asia for the expanded 48-team World Cup. Saudi Arabia will host the World Cup in 2034.
It marks the first time that Qatar, which lost all three group-stage games when it hosted the 2022 tournament, has advanced through qualification.
“It’s one of the best days in my career,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui told the host broadcaster. “Today I think it is one big achievement we have to enjoy.”
For Lopetegui, it is another chance to coach at a World Cup after he was fired by Spain just two days before the start of the 2018 tournament after he accepted the job as Real Madrid manager.
“I am very happy for the fans, and the players — they worked hard and believed,” Lopetegui said. “I am very happy for this country, I am happy for me, my family and my staff. We are going to the World Cup and I hope we can make history.”
Oman was eliminated after finishing third in the group. The winner of the Asian playoff in November gets one more shot for a spot in the finals by advancing to intercontinental qualifying tournament.
Qatar’s best first-half chance was on the half-hour, when Mohammed Al-Mannai’s header bounced just wide of the UAE goal.
Two minutes into the second half, Khoukhi opened the scoring by heading a free kick from Akram Afif past goalkeeper Khalid Essa. With 17 minutes remaining, Afif provided another assist, crossing from the left for Pedro Miguel to head home at the far post.
Qatar was reduced to 10 men when Tarek Salman was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute. After eight of the 15 minutes added on, UAE pulled a goal back through Sultan Adil’s shot from inside the area to ensure a tense finish. UAE would have advanced with a draw.
Asia was allocated eight automatic places at the 2026 World Cup, and Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan qualified from the third round in June.
In friendlies Tuesday, Japan and South Korea each had wins over South American teams.
Japan beat Brazil for the first time, rallying from two goals down to win 3-2 in Tokyo. Ayase Ueda scored the clincher with a header in the 71st minute. It was Japan’s first win over Brazil in 14 attempts. South Korea beat Paraguay 2-0 in Seoul.
