Preview:Oman vs. Malaysia - prediction, team news, lineups

Malaysia will travel to Muscat for Thursday's meeting with Oman in the AFC qualifying section for the 2026 World Cup.

The hosts are in second place after two matches, while Malaysia will begin the third round of games in pole position in Group D.

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Match preview

Oman have experienced a mixed start to their qualifying campaign after following a commanding 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei with a 1-0 defeat to Kyrgyzstan.

Following the November international window, Oman put their qualifying bid on hold earlier this year to focus on their fifth appearance at the Asian Cup.

They warmed up for the tournament with wins over China and the United Arab Emirates, but they could not produce another win in the competition in Qatar.

After beginning the tournament with a defeat to Saudi Arabia, Oman went on to play out back-to-back draws against Thailand and Kyrgyzstan to finish in third place and three points adrift of the top two.

Their underwhelming performance in Qatar resulted in the departure of Branko Ivankovic, who left his role after four years in charge of the national side.

Ivankovic has since been replaced by Jaroslav Silhavy, and the former Czech Republic boss will be hoping to kick off his tenure with a win that would move his team level on points with Malaysia.

Like their hosts, Malaysia were unable to progress from the group stage at the Asian Cup, with their three matches producing one draw and two defeats.

They began their campaign with defeats against Jordan and Bahrain, before they salvaged a point in their final group match against South Korea thanks to Romel Morales' 105th-minute equaliser in an entertaining 3-3 draw.

While they may have finished bottom of their Asian Cup group, Malaysia have experienced a positive start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.

After fighting back from 3-1 down to beat Kyrgyzstan 4-3, Kim Pan-gon's side claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Chinese Taipei following Darren Lok's 72nd-minute winner.

As a result, Malaysia are currently sitting top of the group, with a three-point buffer to Kyrgyzstan and Oman ahead of back-to-back games against Silhavy's charges.

However, they may go into Thursday's contest as the underdogs, with the visitors currently sitting 52 places below Oman in the FIFA World Rankings.

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Team News

Silhavy could decide to line up with Ahmed Al-Khamisi and Ghanim Al-Habashi as his two centre-backs, while Arshad Al-Alawi and Ahmed Al-Kaabi may be selected to operate in the two full-back positions.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Muhsen Al-Ghassani could be presented with the responsibility of leading the line for Oman.

As for the visitors, Syihan Hazmi is set to feature between the posts, and the goalkeeper is likely to be shielded by a back three of Shahrul Saad, Dion Cools and Dominic Tan.

Lok is expected to operate as the main central striker, with Arif Aiman and Faisal Halim set to offer support to the 33-year-old forward.

Oman possible starting lineup: Al-Mukhaini; Al-Alawi, Al-Habashi, Al-Khamisi, Al-Kaabi; Fawaz, Al-Saadi; Al-Yamadi, Al-Yahyaei, Al-Aghbari; Al-Ghassani

Malaysia possible starting lineup: Hazmi; Saad, Cools, Tan; Ting, Gan, Wilkin, Corbin-Ong; Aiman, Halim, Lok

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We say: Oman 2-1 Malaysia

Oman have won three of their last five home matches in World Cup qualifying, and we think that they will make full use of home advantage to get off to a winning start under their new manager.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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