Qatar National Football Team

Qatar's modern football history is short, well-funded, and increasingly serious. The Qatar Football Association was founded in 1960 and Qatari domestic football has been a regional fixture for half a century, but the international team spent most of its existence outside Asia's top tier. That changed in the 2010s. The state-funded Aspire Academy began producing senior players, the federation hired Spanish coach Félix Sánchez to integrate the academy generation into the senior side, and Qatar won the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 in the United Arab Emirates with one of the most unexpected runs in Asian football history. They defended the trophy at home in 2024, becoming the first nation to win consecutive Asian Cups since Iran in the 1970s. The squad that has carried that period — Akram Afif (the Asian Cup top scorer in both finals), Almoez Ali, Hassan Al-Haydos and goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb — remains the spine of the side that has now qualified for a second consecutive World Cup. Julen Lopetegui, the Spanish coach who has previously managed Spain, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Wolves, was appointed in 2025 to replace Bartolomé Márquez after a sluggish Third Round campaign. Lopetegui's brief was specifically to win the Fourth Round playoff that followed — which he did, and which secured Qatar a place at the 2026 World Cup. The longer-term project, taking Qatar past a group stage for the first time, is still unproven.

Qatar's debut World Cup in 2022 was the most heavily-scrutinised hosting of the modern era and the worst hosts' on-field campaign in tournament history. They opened against Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium on 20 November and lost 2-0, becoming the first host nation ever to lose its opening match. Senegal beat them 3-1 four days later, with Mohammed Muntari heading in Qatar's only goal of the tournament. A 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands at the Al Bayt Stadium completed the set: three games, three losses, one goal scored, seven conceded. The defining tournament achievement remains the back-to-back AFC Asian Cup titles. In 2019 in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar beat hosts UAE 4-0 in the semi-final, won a controversial 3-1 final against Japan, and Almoez Ali finished as top scorer with nine goals across the tournament. They defended the title at home in 2024, beating Jordan 3-1 in the final with Akram Afif scoring a hat-trick of penalties — the first hat-trick in an Asian Cup final since 1976. Those two trophies, more than the 2022 World Cup performance, are the basis for what Qatar are bringing into 2026.