The Qatari national football team continued it's preparation for the European Zone qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 later this month.

Though Qatar automatically qualify being the hosts of the 2022 World Cup but are taking part in the qualifiers to get match practice in the lead up to the tournament. Qatar take on Luxembourg in their first match on March 24. The second match will be against Azerbaijan on March 27 and then face Ireland on March 30 at Debrecen, Hungary.

The Qatar squad had a training session under the supervision of Spanish coach Felix Sanchez at Aspire Academy with the participation of 23 players. The players worked on their fitness as well as tactical aspect of their game.

Coach Sanchez has not yet decided the list of players who will travel to Hungary next Friday, as the team will continue its training regularly until the departure date for the three matches. The final list will be decided on Thursday.


Al Duhail’s Bassam al-Rawi, who suffered a serious injury during the Arabian Gulf Cup in 2019, is back in the national fold.

Al Sadd forward Akram Afif is notable absentee after he was ruled out due to a thigh muscle injury. Afif suffered the injury during their QNB Stars League game against Umm Salal and could be out of action for up to six weeks, Al Sadd said. Al Duhail’s Bassam al-Rawi, who suffered a serious injury during the Arabian Gulf Cup in 2019, is back in the national fold.

The Asian champions will join Group A – alongside UEFA Euro 2016 winners Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan. Qatar will play their ‘home’ fixtures on European soil in order to facilitate shorter travel times for their group opponents.

 

Qatar Squad

Pedro Miguel, Salem al-Hajri, Tariq Salman, Abdelkarim Hassan, Boualam Khokhi, Hassan al-Haydos, Youssef Abdel Razzaq, Ahmed Suhail, Musab Khader and Mohamed Waad (Al Sadd); Salah Zakaria, Bassam al-Rawi, Asim Madibo, Almoez Ali, Karim Boudiaf, Ismail Mohamed, Mohamed Muntari, Abdullah Abd al-Salam (Al Duhail); Ahmed Ala al-Din, Humam al-Amin, Muayyad Hassan and Tamim al-Muhaizeh (Al Gharafa) Ahmed Fathi and Mahmoud Abu Nada (Al Arabi) Abdul Aziz Hatem (Al Rayyan) Khaled Munir (Al Wakrah)

Coach: Felix Sanchez