Wednesday 11 / September / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, in cooperation with the Oman Football Association, launched a campaign to support Oman national football team "We are all with you" in the final qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The ceremony included a visual presentation about the national football team and its journey in the qualifiers. A video was also shown about the national team's first participation in the U-17 World Cup finals, which was held in Ecuador in 1995, in which the team achieved good results that enabled it to qualify for the semi-finals.
The ceremony also included a visual presentation about the loyal Omani fans who have supported their journey in all the tournaments everywhere.
Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Amri, Director General of Sports Activities at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Director of the Campaign to Support the football team in the 2026 World Cup final qualifiers, said: “Our national football team's journey to achieve the goal of reaching the World Cup begins early next September, as it is the most prominent and popular event among football competitions worldwide in an atmosphere of excitement, fun and enthusiasm.”
He added: “The campaign seeks to support the national football team to create appropriate environmental conditions and overcome difficulties by providing logistical support to host the team's matches in the Sultanate of Oman with the optimal equipment that ensures the provision of high-quality services, in addition to providing media support to the team during all its matches in the qualifiers in cooperation with private sector institutions, government and private media institutions.
Mohammed bin Suleiman Al Yahmadi, Secretary General of the Oman Football Association, explained that reaching the 2026 World Cup is a great goal and a great national project, so the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, and the Ministry of Information with all its press and media institutions have joined hands with the Oman Football Association to achieve it.
For his part, the national team goalkeeper and former international player Ali bin Abdullah Al Habsi, during his speech, touched on the importance of supporting the national team in the third stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals scheduled to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Al Habsi cited the One Pulse campaign that covered the slogan of our national team's media campaign during its participation in the 19th Gulf Cup in Muscat, which culminated in our national team winning the Gulf Cup title for the first time in its history, indicating that the national unity at that time bore fruit as a result of the cohesion and solidarity of all sports sectors and the government agencies.
“It had led the national team to write its name in the annals of history among those crowned with the Gulf Cup tournaments,” he said.
He added that it is hoped that the next stage of the qualifiers will witness unprecedented support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the Oman Football Association, sports clubs and the private sector, in order to improve the capabilities of the national team, and to harness all aspects of material, moral and logistical support, which will positively reflect on the Reds’ performance in the qualifiers.
Basil bin Ahmed Al Rawas, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for Sports and Youth, the sponsor of the event, launched the identity of the campaign to support the national football team in the final qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, which carried the name "We are all with you", as the logo was designed to symbolise sports, speed and boldness, and one colour was used for the logo to be easy and versatile.
The logo is characterised by its ease of application in most media such as television channels, print advertisements, social media channels and others, while the abstract engravings indicate all segments of society (young, youth and old), who stand behind the team and support it in its journey to World Cup finals, and this is evident through the movement of abstract shapes in one direction and in an ascending manner.
The launch of the campaign is aimed at achieving the desired goal and preparing for the next stage of the journey of Omani football in search of a dream that has been awaited for decades, which is to attend among the big teams in the 2026 World Cup.
The national team will begin its journey in the qualifiers against the Iraqi team at Basra International Stadium on fifth of September, and will play in the second match against the South Korean team in Muscat on 10 September at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bousher, while the third match against Kuwait will be held in Muscat on 10 October, and will travel to meet Jordan in Amman on 15 October, and will receive Palestine in Muscat on 14 November.
Oman national team will host its Iraqi counterpart in Muscat on November 19 in the second leg, then leave for Seoul to meet South Korea on March 20, 2025, then play against Kuwait in Kuwait on March 25, then host Jordan in Muscat on June 5, 2025, and conclude its journey with Palestine away from home on June 10, 2025.
Oman topped its group in the last stage of the qualifiers with (13) points, followed by the Kyrgyzstan team with (11) points, then Malaysia with (10) points and Chinese Taipei with no points.
Two technical teams have supervised its training so far after starting with Branko in the matches against Chinese Taipei and Kyrgyzstan (first leg) before the Czech coach Jaroslav Celavy, coach of our national football team, was brought in, who achieved (10) points out of (12) with the team, putting it in the lead.
