Five players, out of 15, from Professional Football League clubs succeeded in continuing their path with their national teams to the second round of the FIFA World Cup finals, while the journey of the other 10 players ended with their teams’ exit from the group stage with heavy and unexpected results.
Al Ain Club maintained its strong presence in the knockout rounds after its three players participating in the tournament qualified. Moroccan Sofiane Rahimi advanced with his country after Morocco occupied second place in its group. Egyptian defender Rami Rabia also qualified with Egypt as runner-up in his group, while Paraguayan Alejandro Caco advanced to the second round after his country secured one of the best third-place cards.
Al Jazira striker Simon Panza succeeded in leading the Democratic Republic of Congo to the second round, beating the best third-place finishers, while Al-Bataeh player Denny Borges continued his career with the Cape Verde national team, after his country finished second in its group, ahead of the Uruguay and Saudi Arabia teams.
On the other hand, 10 players bid farewell to the tournament at the end of the group stage, led by Iraqi national team duo Muhannad Ali (Dibba) and Ibrahim Bayesh (Al Dhafra), after the “Lions of Mesopotamia” finished their participation in last place without any point following three defeats against France, Norway and Senegal.
The Uzbek trio of Otabek Shukurov (Baniyas), Aziz Janiv (Al Bataeh), and Abdullah Yev (Duba) also left after the Uzbekistan national team occupied last place in its group following its losses to Colombia, Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Iranian quintet, Shahriar Moganlou and Saman Quddus (Kalba), Saeed Ezzatullah (Shabab Al-Ahly), Muhammad Qorbani (Al-Wahda), and Mehdi Qaidi (Al-Nasr), joined them after the Iranian national team was content with third place in its group, and failed to reserve one of the cards for the best third-place finishers.
The five professional league players will face strong tests in the second round, as Sofiane Rahimi, with Morocco, will face the Netherlands, while Egypt, led by Ramy Rabia, will face the Australian team, and Alejandro Kaku, with the Paraguay team, will face a strong match against Germany, while Simon Panza, with the Democratic Republic of Congo, will face the England team, and Denny Burgess, with Cape Verde, will face a difficult confrontation against the defending champion, Argentina.
