The 2022 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching as host nation Qatar are set to kickstart the winter tournament as they lock horns with Ecuador on Sunday 20 November at Al Bayt Stadium.
Ahead of the mid-season tournament, we’ve learnt a lot about Qatar as a nation, but less so about the national team. Are they a dark horse? Who should we look out for?
Well, Qatar have failed to qualify for every World Cup since 1978, but with the middle eastern country prepared to host the 2022 World Cup, Félix Sánchez’ side have been given a free pass to compete with the heavyweights of World Football.
The host nation have been drawn into a difficult group with the likes of Ecuador, AFCON Champions Senegal and three-time World Cup finalists The Netherlands. The fixtures can be seen below:
- Qatar vs Ecuador, 20 Nov, 16:00 BST.
- Qatar vs Senegal, 25 Nov, 13:00 BST.
- Netherlands vs Qatar, 29 Nov, 15:00 BST.
Asian Cup 2019 Winners
Qatar won the Asian Cup in 2019 and were tipped to kick on ahead of this year’s World Cup. But it’s safe to say it hasn’t quite gone to plan.
Qatar defeated a very established Japan side 3-1, who had won their last four Asian Cups, to win the competition for the first time in their history.
The host nation joined a European Qualifying group for the World Cup alongside Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, with fixtures to be played as friendlies.
Despite their 2019 triumph, it’s safe to say these friendlies were nothing less than a struggle for Qatar, suffering heavy 4-0 defeats in the hands of Serbia and Republic of Ireland.
Qatar also were humiliated by Croatia U23’s last month, losing 3-0 at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt.
Player to watch
Akram Afif
It’s fair to say Akram Afif is a fan’s favourite within the Qatar national team. The winger has been apart of the national team setup since 2015 after scoring the winning goal in the AFC U19 Championships against DPR Korea.
He hit the ground running for the first team after scoring and assisting in a 15-0 demolition against Bhutan in September 2015.
Afif was on hand to play a huge role in Qatar’s Asian Cup triumph in 2019 where the forward registered 10 assists in the tournament, setting a new AFC Asian Cup record.
The Qatari winger has made 86 appearances for his country and has 26 goals to his name.
The 26-year-old currently plays for Qatari club Al Sadd where he’s registered 19 goals in 29 games.
With Qatar likely to endure large spells of all three of their group games without the ball, all eyes will be on Afif to produce moments of magic to give the host nation hope of progressing from group A.
Expected lineup
Meshal Barsham; Abdulkarim Hassan, Boualem Khoukhi, Mohamed Waad, Musaab Kheder, Hassan Al-Haydos, Karim Boudiaf, Abdulaziz Hatem, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, Ahmed Alaaeldin
Qatar have plenty of attacking threat and with a home crowd, this lineup, albeit it may change, certainly has the ammunition to cause Holland, Senegal and Ecuador problems.
How will they fare in Group A?
Under Felix Sanchez, Qatar have certainly flourished, the evident highlight being 2019. However, they have had a taste of higher-level opposition more recently against Serbia and Portugal [as mentioned above].
Qatar struggled in these friendlies suffering numerous heavy defeats. Could a repeat be on the cards as they prepare to face equally strong opponents?
The history of this competition demonstrates the value of a home crowd, with six host nations winning the tournament, and Qatar will be reliant on this as well as momentum from their last tournament success to drive their side to success, and to try and progress from a difficult group.
Prediction
Despite having a home crowd behind them, and attacking options capable of dealing damage to sides in their group, I really can’t see how Qatar progress to the knockouts. I can’t look past AFCON Champions Senegal and 8th in the world rankings Netherland.
Contrary to Qatar and Ecuador, these two sides possess World Class talents in their sides.
Senegal will be hoping Bayern Munich forward, and recently ranked 3rd in the Ballon D’or rankings Sadio Mane fires them into the knockouts – just like he guided them to AFCON success in Cameroon earlier this year.
As for the Netherlands, they have talent in abundance. Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie De Jong, Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo, just to name a few.
These two sides, man for man, are far superior to the other two nations in Group A which is the main reason why they’ll progress as the group’s top two.
Qatar lock horns with Ecuador as the tournament’s opening match, I strongly believe the spoils will be shared.
I think the occasion and the buzz around the country will give Qatar that little bit extra to perform and get something from the game. I see this game being the only game where they and Ecuador manage to get a point.
My predictions are below:
- Qatar 1-1 Ecuador
- Qatar 0-2 Senegal
- Netherlands 3-0 Qatar