“The Qatari national team enters the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, with ambitions of leaving a mark that goes beyond the limits of its historic first debut in the previous edition in 2022. The participation of the Qatari national team (Al Adaam) in the new edition of the World Cup will be its first in history through the qualifiers, after appearing in the previous edition on its home ground and among its fans as the host country, amid hopes of achieving better results than those it recorded in its first participation. The World Cup draw placed the Qatari national team in Group B alongside Switzerland, Canada, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Qatari team will open their campaign against Switzerland on June 13 in San Francisco, USA, then move to Vancouver to meet their Canadian counterparts on June 18, and conclude the first round matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle, USA, on June 24. Qatar's participation in the Doha World Cup did not match the impressive success achieved at the organisational, technical and popular levels, as the team exited early from the first round after losing its three matches against Ecuador by 2-0, Senegal by 3-1, and the Netherlands by 2-0, conceding seven goals and scoring only one goal, scored by striker Mohammed Muntari, included in the squad for a second consecutive World Cup appearance. Qatar endured a challenging World Cup qualifying campaign despite entering the competition following a period of clear continental dominance, crowned by winning the last two AFC Asian Cup titles in 2019 in the UAE and 2023 in Qatar, after comfortably securing qualification for the decisive third phase by topping its second-round group with 16 points from five victories and one draw, their task in the following round proved far from easy, as the team could only finish third in Group A behind Iran and Uzbekistan, which secured the two automatic World Cup berths. Qatar were consequently forced to compete in the fourth phase of Asian qualifying, the playoff round, where they were drawn in Group A, which they hosted in Doha. The team played to a scoreless draw against Oman before defeating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in its final match to book its place at the World Cup. The Qatar Football Association (QFA) carried out several changes to the coaching staff before appointing Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui ahead of the final two matches of the third qualifying phase, and he subsequently guided Al Adaam to World Cup qualification through the playoffs. Although Lopetegui retained many of the influential players who featured at Qatar 2022, he sought to inject fresh talent into the squad by calling up 12 players who will make their World Cup debuts. The final 26-man roster includes goalkeepers Meshaal Barsham, Mahmoud Abu Nada, Salah Zakaria, Ahmed al Ganehi, Almoez Ali, Akram Afif, Edmilson Junior, Ahmed Fathi, Ahmed Alaa, Tahseen Mohammed, Pedro Miguel, Boualem Khoukhi, Ayoub al Alawi, Al Hashemi al Hussein, Assim Madibo, Sultan al Brake, Hassan al Haydos, Jassem Jaber, Mohammed Manei, Lucas Mendes, Karim Boudiaf, Issa Lai, Abdulaziz Hatem, Yousif Abdurisag, Homam al Amin, and Mohammed Muntari. The Qatari team have undertaken a special pre-World Cup preparation program since mid-May, following the conclusion of the domestic season and continental club competitions. Preparations began with a domestic training camp before the team travelled to Dublin for a second camp, during which they faced Ireland in a friendly on May 28 and suffered a 1-0 defeat. They then entered a third and final pre-World Cup training camp in Los Angeles, USA, which will include a second test against El Salvador on June 6, with a view to attaining full match fitness ahead of the World Cup. Reaching the next round, the round of 32, will be the goal for the Qatari national team to make history by advancing beyond the group stage for the first time in their second appearance, relying on top-class stars led by Akram Afif, the Asian Player of the Year in 2019 and 2023, along with the all-time leading scorer Almoez Ali, one of the most key figures of the achievement of the last two AFC Asian Cup titles, as well as experienced players such as the captain Hassan Al Haydos, Boualem Khoukhi, Karim Boudiaf, Lucas Mendes, and others.
Original story
Continue reading at Gulf Times Education
www.gulf-times.com/community/education
Summary generated from the RSS feed of Gulf Times Education. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on www.gulf-times.com/community/education.