Doha: Qatar coach Felix Sanchez selected a 26-man squad World Cup on November 11, led by attacking trio Akram Afif, Almoez Ali and Hassan Al Haydous.
The tournament hosts are playing at the World Cup for the first time and face Ecuador in the opening match on November 20. Qatar will also meet Senegal and the Netherlands in Group A.
Sanchez and his players have been staying together in near-lockdown since June while holding training camps in Spain and Austria.
It is a similar approach to that of South Korea 20 years ago when the co-hosts made a shock run to the semifinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Sanchez, who learned his trade over 10 years with Barcelona’s youth teams, guided Qatar to a 3-1 victory over Japan in the 2019 Asian Cup final for the country’s first major international title.
“In 2019, it was difficult to imagine that Qatar could win the Asian Cup,” Sanchez said recently in an interview. “Obviously, I’m not talking about winning the World cup, but to play at a good level against these three opponents is our challenge. Afterall, it’s football and anything can happen.”
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb (Al Sadd), Meshaal Barsham (Al Sadd), Yousef Hassan (Al Gharafa).
Defenders: Pedro Miguel (Al Sadd), Musab Khader (Al Sadd), Tarek Salman (Al Sadd), Bassam Al Rawi (Al Duhail), Boualem Khoukhi (Al Sadd), Abdelkarim Hassan (Al Sadd), Ismail Mohammed (Al Duhail), Homam Al Ameen (Al Gharafa).
Midfielders: Jassem Al Jaber (Al Arabi), Ali Asad (Al Sadd), Assim Madibo (Al Duhail), Mohammed Waad (Al Sadd), Salem Al Hajri (Al Sadd), Mostafa Tarek Mashaal (Al Sadd), Karim Boudiaf (Al Duhail), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al Rayyan).
Forwards: Naif Al Hadhrami (Al Rayyan), Ahmed Alaaeldin (Al Gharafa), Hassan Al Haydous (Al Sadd), Akram Afif (Al Sadd), Almoez Ali (Al Duhail), Mohammed Muntari (Al Duhail), Khalid Muneer (Al Wakrah).
Source: AFP
