2022 World Cup: Qatar's Squad and Team Profile

The World Cup 2022 in Qatar is upon us. Everything you need to know about the tournament's host nation's team, Qatar, which has been drawn into Group A of the 2022 World Cup along with Senegal, Qatar and Ecuador.

Sports

2 min read

The New Arab Staff & Agencies

London

18 November, 2022

Qatar's players a training session for the Qatar National Team at the Jassim bin Hamad stadium in the capital Doha on October 2, 2022. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

QATAR

Best World Cup performance: First appearance
Other honours:  Asian Cup winners 2019
FIFA ranking: 50th
Main clubs: Al Sadd, Al Duhail, Al Rayyan
How they qualified: Automatic qualification as hosts
Coach: Felix Sanchez, 46, moved to Qatar in 2006 after 10 years coaching Barcelona youth teams. The Spaniard guided Qatar to the Asian Cup title in 2019 and now has a mission to get the World Cup hosts past the first round. Sanchez started at the Aspire Academy, training the Gulf state's young athletes, but was under-19 coach and under-23 coach before taking on the national side. Sanchez helped Qatar win the Asian under-19 title in 2014 and has brought many of the players into the national side for the World Cup campaign.
Key player: Qatar are counting on Akram Afif for the goals needed to get the victories required in the group. Afif, who will be 26 two days before the November 20 start of the World Cup, was born in Doha to a Tanzanian footballer father and Yemeni mother. He played for the Qatari-owned Eupen team in Belgium as well as Sporting Gijon in Spain before joining Al-Sadd, who were Qatari champions in 2021 and 2022.

Group Fixtures & Matches

November 21: Ecuador v Qatar
November 25: Senegal v Qatar
November 29: Qatar v Netherlands

🇶🇦 Qatar@QFA | #FIFAWorldCup (24/33) pic.twitter.com/pCjRDInCew
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 16, 2022

Qatar's World Cup 2022 squad

Goalkeepers: Meshaal Barsham (Al-Sadd), Saad Al-Sheeb (Al-Sadd), Yousef Hassan (Al-Gharafa)

Defenders: Tarek Salman (Al-Sadd), Pedro Miguel Ro-Ro (Al-Sadd), Bassam Al-Rawi (Al-Duhail), Boualem Khoukhi (Al-Sadd), Abdelkarim Hassan (Al-Sadd), Musab Khoder (Al-Sadd), Homam Ahmed (Al-Gharafa)

Midfielders: Karim Boudiaf (Al-Duhail), Jassem Gaber (Al-Arabi), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al-Rayyan), Mohammed Waad (Al-Sadd), Ali Asad (Al-Sadd), Assim Madibo (Al-Duhail), Salem Al-Hajri (Al-Sadd), Mostafa Mashaal (Al-Sadd)

Attackers: Akram Afif (Al-Sadd), Abdelrahman Moustafa (Al-Duhail), Khalid Muneer Mazeed (Al-Wakrah), Hassan Al-Haydos (Al-Sadd), Ismaeel Mohammad (Al-Duhail), Naif Al-Hadhrami (Al-Rayyan), Almoez Ali (Al-Duhail), Ahmed Alaaeldin (Al-Gharafa), Mohammed Muntari (Al-Duhail)