Fifa World Cup 2026: Hong Kong players, coaches forced to miss qualifier over visa issues
- City’s team head to Turkmenistan two players short and with two key staff members missing because visas were not approved in time
Hong Kong must play a Fifa World Cup qualifying match without two of their most senior coaches and with two players also left at home after visas to travel to Turkmenistan were not approved in time.
One of the missing players, defender Oliver Gerbig, was injured and it was not possible to obtain a visa for a replacement, while goalkeeper Chan Ka-ho experienced what Hong Kong football officials said were unspecified “visa issues”.
The squad face Turkmenistan on Tuesday in the final fixture of their campaign, with both teams out of the running but with Hong Kong chasing their first World Cup qualifying group-stage win since beating Cambodia 2-0 in 2019. They have not registered an away win since defeating Bhutan 1-0 in 2015.
They set off on Thursday without assistant manager Szeto Man-chun and coach Roberto Losada, both newly drafted into the Hong Kong set-up after the sudden resignation last week of head coach Jorn Andersen.
The city’s football association said it had tried to obtain visas for the new staff but was left with too little time for them to be granted.
