Host status secured Qatar’s passage to the FIFA 2022 World Cup, as they broke new ground in the competition with their first appearance on the main stage.
Despite the controversy surrounding FIFA’s decision to select Qatar as tournament host, with the Middle East now awaiting its first World Cup, Qatar is under pressure to perform.
A lack of World Cup pedigree is a major factor against Felix Sanchez’s side, but the hosts have faced challenges before in unlikely situations. They stunned Asia by winning the most recent AFC Asian Cup in 2019.
Group A will feature against Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands and Sanchez will certainly not rule out the chance of an upset.
Qatar World Cup Squad 2022
Sanchez had until Friday, October 21, to submit an official preliminary list of 35-55 players to FIFA, and from there he selected his final 26-man roster, announced on November 11, just days ahead of FIFA’s deadline.
The final squad is made up entirely of players from the domestic Qatar Stars League and exactly half of the players are from defending champions Al Saad.
Qatar will play Ecuador on Sunday, November 20, in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup.
| Position | No. | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
| GK | 1 | Saad Al-Sheeb | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 32 | 80 |
| GK | 22 | Meshaal Barsham | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 24 | 15 |
| GK | 21 | Yousuf Hassan | Al-Gharafa (QAT) | 26 | 9 |
| DEF | 2 | Pedro Miguel | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 32 | 78 |
| DEF | 13 | Musaab Khidir | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 29 | 29 |
| DEF | 5 | Tarek Salman | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 24 | 54 |
| DEF | 4 | Mohammed Waad | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 23 | 20 |
| DEF | 15 | Bassam Al Rawi | Al-Duhail (QAT) | 24 | 51 |
| DEF | 16 | Boualem Khoukhi | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 32 | 99 |
| DEF | 17 | Ismail Mohammad | Al-Duhail (QAT) | 32 | 66 |
| DEF | 14 | Homam Ahmed | Al-Gharafa (QAT) | 23 | 27 |
| MID | 3 | Abdelkarim Hassan | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 29 | 120 |
| MID | 25 | Jassim Jabir | Al-Arabi (QAT) | 20 | 0 |
| MID | 8 | Ali Asad | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 29 | 56 |
| MID | 23 | Assim Madibo | Al-Duhail (QAT) | 26 | 43 |
| MID | 20 | Salem Al-Hajri | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 26 | 23 |
| MID | 26 | Tarek Mustafa | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 21 | 1 |
| MID | 12 | Karim Boudiaf | Al-Duhail (QAT) | 32 | 108 |
| MID | 6 | Abdulaziz Hatim | Al-Rayyan (QAT) | 32 | 96 |
| MID | 24 | Naif Al-Hadhrami | Al-Rayyan (QAT) | 21 | 1 |
| MID | 10 | Hassan Al-Haydos | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 31 | 160 |
| FWD | 7 | Ahmed Alaaeldin | Al-Gharafa (QAT) | 29 | 45 |
| FWD | 11 | Akram Afif | Al-Sadd (QAT) | 25 | 83 |
| FWD | 19 | Almoez Ali | Al-Duhail (QAT) | 26 | 82 |
| FWD | 9 | Mohammed Muntari | Al-Duhail (QAT) | 28 | 41 |
| FWD | 18 | Khalid Muneer | Al-Wakrah (QAT) | 24 | 3 |
Qatar Excellent Players, Strengths and Weaknesses
After automatically qualifying for the World Cup, Qatar was placed in UEFA qualifying Group A (as non-competitive) to allow Sánchez’s side a taste of top-level action ahead of the tournament.
Two wins from 10 games showed their struggles against European sides, but they managed to reach the semi-finals of the 2021 Gold Cup in North America and the Arab Cup.
STARS
Sanchez will continue to rely on the domestic Qatari squad for the World Cup, with many of his players already reaching 100 or more international caps.
The undisputed star forward is the electric Akram Afif. Experienced Hassan Al Haydos is the team’s skilled playmaker who will be the key link as the team aims to stun the opposition on the counter.
POWERS
The counter-attack is Qatar’s main weapon and Akram Afif is a key part of that transition game. His pace and one-on-one skills can be enough to cause chaos in the opposition half and fellow forward Almoz Ali will be the beneficiary of any service if Afif can’t do it himself.
WEAKNESS
Outside of the international competition that Qatar seeks through friendlies and other tournaments, their players are unknown outside of their own national league and that could be exposed from the start.