Raphael Durand
Dailysports's expert
One of the matches of the 8th round of the third stage of the 2026 World Cup qualification will be played on Tuesday in Bishkek, where the Kyrgyzstan national team will face Qatar. I propose a bet on the outcome of this encounter.
Match Preview
The Kyrgyzstan national team failed to overcome the group stage of the last Asian Cup, suffering defeats from Oman, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia. However, in the 2026 World Cup qualification, the "White Falcons" looked much more confident. In the second round, they managed to finish in second place, leaving Malaysia and Taiwan behind, and put up a decent fight against Oman.
But the third stage of the qualifiers became a real test for the Kyrgyz team. With the increase in competition level, the team faced serious difficulties, losing six out of seven matches. The only victory was achieved in October, when they managed to narrowly defeat North Korea (1:0) at home. In the last round, Kyrgyzstan lost 0:1 away to Uzbekistan, thus losing all chances to advance to the next stage.
Qatar confidently passed the second stage of the World Cup qualification, not suffering a single defeat in six matches and collecting 16 points, which allowed them to take first place in the group. After their triumph in the Asian Cup, the team continued to show a high level of play, but the third stage of the qualifiers proved to be a much more difficult test.
Here, the Qataris had to face serious opponents in the form of Iran, Uzbekistan, and the UAE. After seven rounds, Qatar is in fourth place, trailing the UAE on tiebreakers and nine points behind the leading Iran. In the last round, Qatar hosted North Korea and secured a 5:1 victory.
Probable Lineups
- Kyrgyzstan: Tokotaev, Mishchenko, Kichin, Kozubaev, Brausman, Jyrgalbek Uulu, Shukurov, Zarypbekov, Abdurakhmanov, Kenyevbaev, Koyo
- Qatar: Barsham, Miguel, Tarek, Mendes, Yazidi, Abdulsallam, Fathi, Al-Hassan, Al Amin, Afif, Ali
Match Facts and Head-to-Head
- Qatar has defeated Kyrgyzstan twice, including a 3:1 victory at home in the first round
- The "both teams to score" bet has played out in Qatar's last 4 matches
- The "total over 2.5" bet has played out in three out of five matches involving Kyrgyzstan
Prediction
Bookmakers favor Qatar and offer odds of 1.74 for the visitors' victory. We believe it's worth taking "Total over 2.0" with odds of 1.60 here.
