From Asia with love: Qatar & Saudi Arabia are headed to North America

Qatar are at the World Cup, but they deserved it on the pitch this time. Three years ago, the Maroons automatically qualified as the hosts, and many questioned their quality. Now, no one can hold anything against them.

Truth be told, they had to go through a calvary of a three-team playoff group, but they emerged victorious in the end, although things didn't look good at the beginning.

After the opening goalless draw against Oman, Qatar needed a win over the United Arab Emirates. Otherwise, they'd have to settle for a place in yet another playoffs (there are too many of them, aren't there?).

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Anyway, Boualem Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel's goals put them 2-0 in front, but Tarek Salman's 89th-minute red card seriously complicated their situation. During the 15-minute added time (?!), the UAE managed to reduce the gap over Sultan Adil in the 98th minute, but that was all they could do.

Apart from Qatar, Saudi Arabia secured their third World Cup participation, thanks to a goalless draw against Iraq. The two teams were tied at the top of their qualifying group, but the Green Falcons' edge was a better goal difference.

The UAE and Iraq will face each other in the fifth-round playoffs scheduled for mid-November, and the winner of a two-leg clash will book its spot in the inter-confederation playoffs. The loser - just like the two bottom teams from the aforementioned groups, Oman and Indonesia - will be definitely eliminated.

Interestingly, both Qatar and Saudi Arabia played this mini-tournaments on their home turfs, exploiting this advantage to the fullest. Either way, they thus joined Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, and Australia who had previously booked their places in the World Cup from Asian qualifiers.