FIFA World Cup football is going to be held in Qatar for the first time in the Middle East. As hosts, Qatar is playing without playing the qualifiers. 79 different countries participated in the 92-year history of the previous 21 World Cups. However, this is the first time Qatar to participate in the World Cup, which has never qualified for the World Cup. Qatar is considered the weakest team in the World Cup because they will play for the first time and have never appeared in World Cup. Let's take a look at the Qatar Squad in World Cup Football tournament.
Qatar Team Announced for Football World Cup
Table: Qatar Squad for World Cup
| Role | Players |
| Goalkeeper | Saad Al Sheeb (Al-Sadd), Meshaal Barsham (Al-Sadd), Yousuf Hassan (Emirates Club) |
| Defender | Pedro Miguel (Al-Sadd), Musaab Khidir (Al-Sadd), Tarek Salman (Al-Sadd), Bassam Al Rawi (Al-Duhail), Khoukhi Boualem (Al-Sadd), Abdelkarim Hassan (Al-Sadd), Ismael Mohammed (Al-Duhail), Homam Al Amin (Al-Gharafa) |
| Midfoelder | Jassim Jabir (Al-Waab), Ali Asad (Al-Sadd), Mohammed Waad (Al-Sadd), Salem Al Hajri (Al-Sadd), Assim Modibo (Al-Duhail), Mustafa Meshaal (Al-Sadd), Karim Boudiaf (Al-Duhail), Abdulaziz Hatim (Al-Rayyan), Naif Alhadhrami (Al-Rayyan) |
| Forward | Hassan Al-Haydos (Al-Sadd), Akram Afif (Al-Sadd), Almoez Ali (Al-Duhail), Mohammed Muntari (Al-Duhail), Ahmed Alaa (Al-Gharafa), Khalid Muneer (Al-Wakrah). |
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The Qatar Football Federation has announced a 26-man squad for the dream World Cup tournament at home.
Current Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez was their first choice in Qatar’s coach list for World Cup preparations. However, without him, under another Spanish, Felix Sanchez, Qatar has been preparing in secret for the past two months.
Qatar’s national league has paused since mid-September to have a preliminary and intensive pre-World Cup training camp. Besides playing friendly matches against Jamaica, Canada, Chile, and Albania, the national team is training in Vienna and Marbella, Austria.
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The Qataris started preparing for the World Cup several years ago and have already played friendly matches with 10 European countries. However, despite such hard preparation, they recently lost 2-0 to Canada, another weak team in the World Cup.
In their last friendly match against Chile, who have not got a chance in this World Cup on September 27, Qatar made a 2-2 draw. Only time will tell how much the draw will energize them. To prepare for World Cup, they have played against teams of all strengths all over the world.
Qatar Squad Analysis for the FIFA World Cup
Most of the footballers who play in Qatar’s various clubs are in the World Cup squad. Almoez Ali, the joint top goal scorer for Qatar, is apparently in the squad. He has scored 42 goals, equal to Mansoor Mufta for the country. Hassan Al-Haydos, who has played the most matches (146 games) for Qatar, is also in the squad.
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Qatar’s World Cup squad has 5 players, including Abdelkarim Hassan, Hassan Al-Haydos, Karim Boudiaf, Abdulaziz Hatim, and Boualem Khoukhi, who have already played more than 100 international matches.
Many of the players on the team have experience working with the current coach on the U-19 and U-23 teams. However, the team’s success will depend on center-back Bassam Al-Rawi, left-winger Homam Al-Amin and two forwards, Akram Afif and Almoez Ali.
Team Format
The Qataris are practicing in 3-5-2 and 5-3-2. With the 3-5-2 system, the team is practicing keeping the ball in possession and working on how to play the counterattack in the 5-3-2 system. But the real thing is to see what they do off the pitch.
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Key Players
Although most Qatari players don’t play in any leagues out of their country, the domestic league has produced some international-level players. In this World Cup, Qatar fans will have eyes on two key players of the team. The team’s performance will mostly depend on the attacker Akram Afif and defender Bassam Al Rawi.
Akram Afif, forward
Forward Akram Afif has returned to form at the right time. However, his consistency has been hampered by injuries, but he has hinted in recent friendlies that he is primed for the World Cup. He is a dynamic forward, and, on his day, Afif can beat any defender.
He is regarded as one of the best players in Asia. After winning the league title with Al Sadd in 2020, his former coach Xavi Hernandez said he was an incredible talent and a great player.
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Bassam Al Rawi, Defender
As the central pillar of the defense, Al Duhail’s Bassam Al-Rawi has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. However, this center-back can be a threat to any team during set pieces and can be the savior of Qatar, paving the way for them to score. Although he is not tall, quite a fighter and will help the team out of danger with persistence when the team is under pressure.
Final Words
Qatar will start the tournament with a match against Ecuador. The hosts’ other two opponents are Senegal and the Netherlands. They will play against Senegal on November 25 and against the Dutch on November 29.
The Qatar team’s challenge will be to get through the group stage. In the long history of the World Cup, only South Africa has a bad record of not being able to pass the group stage despite being the host. And Qatar has two strong opponents in their group, which will put some pressure on the hosts.
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