Oman vs Germany Soccer, 16 November 2022
Oman have never qualified for the finals of a World Cup, so it was not a surprise when they failed to progress to the 2022 tournament, which is due to officially get underway on Sunday.
The Reds finished fourth in their Group B qualification section, one point behind third-place Australia, so they can certainly take encouragement from their campaign, even if it did not bring the desired outcome.
Oman won four, drew two and lost four of their 10 qualification fixtures in Group B, which included a 2-0 victory over China in their last competitive match back in March.
Branko Ivankovic’s side have played four friendlies since then, beating Nepal and Iraq, in addition to drawing with New Zealand and losing 1-0 to Jordan last time out.
Oman have four friendlies before the end of the year, following this game with fixtures against Belarus and Syria (twice), before taking part in the Gulf Cup of Nations at the start of 2023.
Germany, meanwhile, will begin their World Cup campaign against Japan on November 23 before also taking on Spain and Costa Rica in the group stage of the competition.
Flick’s side played out a 3-3 draw with England in their last match at the end of September, with the result seeing them finish third in the UEFA Nations League section, picking up just seven points from six matches.
Germany have only actually won of their last seven matches in all competitions, which is hardly ideal form heading into the World Cup, with the national team drawing too many games of late.
It would be a shock if DFB-Team were unable to advance through the group stage of the competition, but they are not considered to be one of the frontrunners to win the trophy at this stage.
Germany have won the World Cup on four previous occasions, including back in 2014, but they were eliminated in the group stage of the 2018 tournament, winning just one of their three matches.
Oman possible starting lineup:
Al-Rushaidi; Durbin, Al-Habsi, Al-Busaidi, Al-Harthi; Al-Khaldi, Al-Saadi, Al-Alawi, Al-Yahyaei; Al-Hajri, Al-Muqbali
Germany possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Kehrer, Rudiger, Sule, Raum; Kimmich, Gundogan; Gnabry, Musiala, Sane; Havertz