Venezuela to meet Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan in friendlies

Caracas (Venezuela), March 2 (IANS) Venezuela will meet Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan in friendlies later this month as the teams fine-tune their preparations for FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The matches will be played on March 24 and 28 in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) said in a statement.

All three teams will begin their quest for a berth at the next World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico later this year, a Xinhua report said.

The Asia zone qualifying tournament - in which Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan will participate - is due to begin in October while the South American qualifiers are expected to start in September.

The Vinotinto, who are managed by Argentine Jose Pekerman, have never qualified for football's showpiece tournament.