Lopez named new Qatar coach as Queiroz sacked

Carlos Queiroz has parted company with Qatar’s national team less than a year after signing a four-year contract to coach the Asian champions and with little more than a month until the nation hosts the Asian Cup, with Marquez Lopez named as his replacement.
The former Real Madrid and Portugal head coach took over as the long-term replacement for Felix Sanchez in February after Qatar’s disappointing performance in the 2022 World Cup on home soil in which they suffered three defeats in three matches in the group stage.
“The Qatar Football Association has announced that Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz’s tenure as head coach of the Qatar national team has ended amicably by mutual agreement between the two parties,” the QFA said in a statement.
“The QFA expresses its sincere gratitude to coach Queiroz for his unwavering dedication, leadership, and contributions during his tenure as the head coach of the national team. We wish him success in his future endeavours.”
QFA did not elaborate on the reasons behind the move. The QFA have announced 61-year-old Marquez Lopez as his successor. The Spaniard is currently in charge of Qatari club side Al Wakrah. “The coach will be in charge of the Qatar national team at the 2023 Asian Cup, which will be hosted in Qatar next year,” the QFA said. “The QFA expresses gratitude and appreciation to Al Wakrah Sports Club for their co-operation and consent in facilitating Coach Marquez Lopez’s appointment as the national team head coach for the upcoming period.”
Queiroz oversaw wins over Afghanistan and India in November in the second round of Asia’s preliminaries for the next World Cup, with the Qatar chasing one of eight berths available for teams from the continent at the expanded 48-team finals.
In the aftermath of the Afghanistan victory, Queiroz wrote on Instagram that his team’s performance had been “competent, serious and ambitious”. “What’s next? We want to do more and better. We want to train and be better prepared... Now we start our pre-preparation camp for the Asia Cup,” he added. In all, over 12 matches with Qatar, Queiroz’s record stands at five wins, two draws and five losses.
Qatar won their first Asian Cup title under Sanchez in 2019 and the country is due to defend the trophy on home soil next month, when they have been drawn to face China, Tajikistan and Lebanon in the group phase. Qatar is hosting the continental championship after original hosts China relinquished the rights due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.