Kuwaiti players training for the friendly and World Cup qualifiers.

DUBAI, March 13: Kuwait will play China in a friendly match this Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Al Maktoum Stadium, Al Nasr Club, as part of its training camp in Dubai, UAE. The match is preparation for Kuwait's upcoming Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, where it will face Iraq and Oman on March 20 and 25, respectively, in Group B.

Head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi aims to assess the readiness of his squad before traveling to Basra. He will also test new call-ups to evaluate their ability to integrate into the team and perform their roles effectively.

Pizzi has named a 28-player roster for the camp:

Goalkeepers: Saud Al-Hoshan, Khaled Al-Rashidi, Suleiman Abdul-Ghafoor

Defenders: Fahad Al-Hajri, Sami Al-Sanea, Mohammed Daham, Reda Hani, Moaz Al-Dhafiri, Khaled Ibrahim, Eid Al-Rashidi, Jassim Al-Matar, Mubarak Al-Fenini, Hassan Hamdan, Mohammed Khaled, Khaled Al-Marshad, Salman Al-Awadhi

Midfielders: Hussein Ashkanani, Ali Khalaf, Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli, Moaz Al-Aseema, Fawaz Ayed, Hamad Al-Harbi, Fawaz Mubailesh, Salman Burmiah, Sultan Al-Enezi

Forwards: Yousef Nasser, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Ahmed Al-Zanki (replacing the injured Meshari Ghannam)

Kuwait may be without several players from Al-Qadsiya and Al-Arabi, as they had been unavailable since the camp began on March 9 due to club commitments in the Gulf Champions League and AFC Challenge League, respectively. However, they rejoined the squad in the past after both teams advanced in their respective tournaments.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Syeassah/Arab Times Staff