The Oman Football Association (OFA) announced on Tuesday the appointment of Portuguese Carlos Kirosh as head coach of the first team to lead it in the upcoming competitions starting from the fourth stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Oman snatched the last qualification card for the Asian playoffs last June with a difficult 1-1 draw with their rival Palestinian counterparts, who were also competing for qualification. Oman finished the third round of qualifying in fourth place in their group with 11 points, one point behind fifth-placed Palestine.

The Omani Football Federation said in a statement via the “X” platform: “The Board of Directors of the Oman Football Federation announces the appointment of Portuguese coach Carlos Kirosh to take over the technical leadership of the first national team during the next phase, as part of the Federation’s efforts to enhance the performance of the national team in the upcoming competitions.”

“Kirosh has extensive coaching experience; he has led the national teams of Portugal, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar. He also worked as a technical assistant at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.”

The federation continued: “On the other hand, the federation decided to appoint national coach Hamad Al-Ezzani as the technical director of the youth team, while temporarily assigning him the task of assistant coach of the first team during the qualifying period.”

The statement concluded: “The Federation extends its sincere thanks and appreciation to the former technical staff led by national coach Rashid Jaber for the tangible efforts they made during the past period, wishing them success in their future endeavors.”