The most unusual football project of the past decade faces the ultimate test. How competitive are Qatar’s kickers really? After months of complete isolation, the World Cup host enters the largest possible stage.
The preliminary round matches against Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands are not only about the sport, but also about the question: Can a state project with almost endless financial resources and concentrated competence from Europe turn an absolute football nobody into a competitive team within twelve years at the biggest tournament in the world?
When the team of the Spaniard Felix Sanchez opens the World Cup against Ecuador on Sunday (5 p.m. / ZDF and Magentasport) in the Al-Bait Stadium in Al Chaur, it will have one of the most bizarre preparations ever behind it. The World Cup debutant toured Europe for four months in the summer and played friendly games one after the other – often behind closed doors. In September, the national Qatar Stars League, in which the entire World Cup squad plays, was interrupted after just over a month to allow for a long period of joint preparation.
Before tournament: No large-scale naturalization tour
Qatar’s national team is like a club team – but still without a chance? Coach Sanchez sees it differently, especially with a positive experience from three years ago. “In 2019 it was very difficult to imagine that we would win the Asian Cup and we did it. I’m not talking about becoming world champions, but competing at the highest level is definitely our goal,” said Sanchez, who has been in Barcelona since 2006 Qatar has worked successively in the glorious Aspire Academy, youth national teams and now, since 2017, with the senior team.
Qatar’s footballers have been in competitive mode for years. Because they didn’t have to qualify themselves, they played at the Gold Cup 2021 in North America (semi-finals), at the Copa America 2019 in South America (preliminary round) and in the World Cup qualifiers in Europe (draw against Luxembourg, clear defeats against Serbia and Portugal ) With. The results and performances were often sobering. So really, a few days before the start of the World Cup, it is hard to imagine how the nameless team, which has a total market value in the amount of national player Lukas Klostermann, is supposed to be competitive at the World Cup.
Because: A large-scale naturalization tour, as Qatar’s handball players successfully did before the home World Cup in 2015, is not possible at FIFA. When Qatar tried to naturalize the then Bundesliga professionals Ailton and Dede almost two decades ago, the world association tightened the rules. Individual professionals such as central defenders Pedro Miguel and Karim Boudiaf were able to be naturalized because they had previously played in Qatar long enough. But there was no real and prominent increase in quality that would increase the chances of a World Cup sensation.
Soccer stars like Pep Guardiola, Gabriel Batistuta or Xavi played in the Qatar league at times in the autumn of their careers. However, the national team could not benefit from this splendor. The persistent rumors that star coach Guardiola could eventually take over the exciting project of the World Cup hosts as a coach never came true. Instead, it should judge his Catalan colleague Sanchez.
Pool of just 5000 players
The domestic league is still in the niche. There are rarely more than 1,000 people watching in the stadium, and there are hardly any big names. “We want the next Messi and Ronaldo, the next Nagelsmann and Tuchel,” said Ahmed Abbassi, manager of the Qatar Stars League of ARD. You have fantastic stadiums and play in the safest country in the world.
But since the acquisition of stars was already difficult up to the home World Cup, this should be even more difficult to implement afterwards. The focus of public world football will quickly turn away from Qatar after the December 18 final. The league is currently far from the top international level, national coach Sanchez admitted in an interview with the Spanish newspaper “Marca”.
Qatar only has around 300,000 citizens – and although there has been a lot of sighting and training over the past ten years at the Aspire Academy, which is both a training ground and a boarding school, there is only a pool of around 5,000 footballers. To fail as the second host after South Africa in a World Cup preliminary round would not even be tragic for the emirate. For Qatar’s footballers around the storm duo Almoez Ali and Akram Afif, it’s also about saving face in the preliminary round. And to avert a sporting embarrassment when billions of people are watching.
Team expects a tough group stage
Attacking football and playful art are not to be expected from Qatar, Sanchez has already revealed that much. “If we want to be competitive, it would be like suicide if we took the initiative. We try to be compact, give the opponent as few chances as possible and be strong on the break,” said Sanchez, who has been the core of the team since looked after their youth. The World Cup squad was basically set two years ago, and since then fine-tuning has been done in this circle.
The performances from the friendlies, when there were always defeats against World Cup starters and no wins even against Jamaica or Slovenia, should not be enough in the interesting group. “We’re facing teams that have been in the World Cup final or are African champions. Many players are the best in the world in their positions, with World Cup and Champions League experience,” said Sanchez. His words resonate: Every goal and every point at the World Cup would be a huge success. Every win anyway. “We’re trying to keep things normal. There’s already enough pressure from outside,” said the head coach.
