Queiroz named Qatar coach until 2026 FIFA World Cup

Veteran Portuguese football manager Carlos Queiroz has signed a three-year deal to be Qatar’s national team coach, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) announced yesterday.
Quieroz, who turns 70 on March 1, was the coach of the Iranian side that featured in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
QFA said Queiroz will be the coach until the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.
“Official: Carlos Queiroz is the new head coach for Al Annabi,” QFA’s Twitter handle announced yesterday.
“We wish the Portuguese coach all the best with our national team. Queiroz has a rich biography, great knowledge and extensive experience in Asian football.”
The contract ceremony yesterday was attended by Mansoor al-Ansari, the QFA secretary-general, and Quieroz.
Queiroz replaces Felix Sanchez who was the coach from 2017 to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar where Al Annabi failed to win any of their three preliminary league matches.
Sanchez’s biggest success was when Qatar won the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 by beating Japan in the final in the UAE.
One of Queiroz’s main tasks will be to defend Qatar’s Asian title they won four years ago.
Before that, Queiroz will have to take charge of the Maroons when they compete in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June.
Queiroz has served as the manager of his native Portugal’s national team, the UAE, South Africa, Iran, Colombia and Egypt, leading South Africa (2002), Portugal (2010) and Iran (2014, 2018, and 2022) to the FIFA World Cup.
At club level, he has also managed Sporting CP, the New York/New Jersey Metrostars in Major League Soccer and Spanish club Real Madrid.
Queiroz also had two spells as Alex Ferguson’s assistant manager at English club Manchester United.
Queiroz takes charge of a side likely to need major rebuilding after coming in for stinging criticism over their World Cup performance.
Defender Abdelkarim Hassan left for Kuwait after being booted out of his Al Sadd side because of his reaction to the defeats on social media.
Queiroz will be looking at new players after the departure of Hassan and out of form ’keeper Saad al-Sheeb who is clearly on the wane.
Al Sadd star Hassan al-Haydos, who was the captain of the Qatar side that won the Asian Cup in 2019, also failed to sparkle at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The new coach will be looking for fresh blood from the 12-team Qatar Stars League that is played for almost eight to nine months a year. Qatar sent a young side to last month’s Arabian Gulf Cup where they reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners Iraq. Names like Pierre Lechantre, Philippe Troussier, Jorge Fossati, Bruno Metsu and Sebastiao Lazaroni have coached the Qatar national side in the last two decades.