The Qatar national football team (Arabic: ) represents Qatar in international football and is managed by the Qatar Football Association and the Asian Football Confederation.
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The squad has participated in 10 Asian Cup competitions, winning one in 2019. Their home games are held at Khalifa International Stadium and Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The latter is considered the team’s home stadium. [5]
Qatar is presently hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and hence qualified automatically for their first participation in the finals. This is the first time the tournament has been held in an Arab country. Qatar was the first team eliminated from the World Cup on November 26.
Pre-1970
Football was introduced to Qatar around the time of the discovery of oil riches in Dukhan in 1940. [6] The first official football match in Qatar was played by expatriate oil employees in 1948. The Qatar Football Association was founded in 1960, and the QFA became a member of FIFA in 1963. [7] At the same time, the Bahrain Football Association was developing plans for the development of a regional football tournament inside the GCC, and Qatari officials were involved in the validation of this idea. [8] The objectives were realized, and the Arabian Gulf Cup was established in March 1970. [9]
1970-1980
The Qatar national team played their first official match against Bahrain on March 27, 1970, losing 1-2 with Mubarak Faraj scoring the only goal for Qatar. [10] The newly created Qatar national team finished last with a single point in the first Gulf Cup competition, with the highlight of their run being a 1-1 tie with the Saudis in their last match. [11]
Qatar was relegated to last place in the 1972 Gulf Cup after suffering three consecutive defeats. [12] The next tournament in 1974 proved to be a watershed moment for the Qataris, as they won their first international football title with a 4-0 victory over Oman. The Qataris were eliminated in the semi-finals by Saudi Arabia, but they finished third after winning a penalty shoot-out against the United Arab Emirates. [13]
They first participated in the AFC Asian Cup qualifying stages in 1975. They failed to qualify for the 1976 Asian Cup, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia taking the group’s two qualifying spots. Despite this defeat, Qatar placed third in the 1976 Gulf Cup as the host country the following year. [14]
They first participated in the AFC Asian Cup qualifying stages in 1975. They failed to qualify for the 1976 Asian Cup, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia taking the group’s two qualifying spots. Despite this defeat, Qatar placed third in the 1976 Gulf Cup as the host country the following year. [14]
In 1977, the national squad played their first FIFA World Cup qualification match. Qatar was scheduled to face the United Arab Emirates on 11 March 1977, but the Emirati squad withdrew at the last minute, delaying Qatar’s debut until two days later, when Bahrain was defeated 2-0 in Doha. [15]
Qatar was named the 2022 FIFA World Cup host country in December 2010.
They reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 Asian Cup as hosts. After Masahiko Inoha scored in the 89th minute, they fell to eventual champions Japan in a late 2-3 defeat.
They also won the 2014 WAFF Championship as hosts, defeating Jordan 2-0 in the final. The league included largely youth and reserve teams, with Qatar representing the latter. [25] Djamel Belmadi, the head coach of the B team, took over as the senior squad’s head coach as a consequence of the team’s strong results. Djamel Belmadi guided Qatar to gold at the 2014 Gulf Cup ten months later. They advanced from the group stages after three draws, then defeated Oman 3-1 in the semi-finals and defeated Saudi Arabia, who was playing in front of a home crowd, 2-1 in the final. [26]
Despite winning the Gulf Cup and having only one defeat in 2014, Qatar performed poorly in the 2015 Asian Cup. In their first game, Qatar was beaten 1-4 by the United Arab Emirates. This was followed by a 0-1 loss to Iran and a 1-2 loss to Bahrain. Qatar was eliminated from the group stages with no points, finishing fourth in Group C.
UEFA invited Qatar to play friendlies against the teams in Group A of the 2022 World Cup qualifying group – Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, and Serbia – in December 2020, because five teams in one group means one team will not play on any given match day. These friendly matches had no bearing on the qualifying group rankings. Qatar played their “home” matches in Europe to allow their opponents short travel times. [31] [32]
Qatar finished first in Group D of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Their debut ended in a 3-3 tie against Panama, giving them their first point. This was followed by 4-0 victories over Grenada and 2-0 victories over Honduras, securing a quarter-final spot where they would face El Salvador, ultimately securing a semi-final spot against the United States with a 3-2 victory. However, despite having a penalty in the 60th minute and a squad made up of the majority of MLS players, Qatar failed to find the back of the net, eventually conceding a late goal from Gyasi Zardes to end Qatar’s campaign with a 1-0 loss.
In the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, Qatar won all of its group-stage matches and faced UAE, winning 5–0. They lost 2–1 in the semi-final against Algeria, eventually placing 3rd.[citation needed]
