Sanchez names Qatar squad for World Cup and Asian qualifiers
DOHA, September 2, 2019-Qatar coach Felix Sanchez yesterday named a 24-member squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers. Qatar, who are in Group E, will open their campaign against Afghanistan on September 5th, before taking on India five days later. Both matches will be played at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium. Oman and Bangladesh are the other sides in the group.
Sanchez announced the squad after the end of the second round matches of the QNB Stars League. Qatar players began their preparations last night with some light training.
While Qatar have already qualified for the next World Cup as hosts, topping their group will ensure a direct spot at the 2023 Asian Cup.
All group winners will qualify directly for the finals, alongside the four best runners-up. The Spaniard, who was recently also appointed as the coach of the Olympic side, replacing compatriot Albert Fernandez, has also named a 26-member squad for the two upcoming friendlies against Jordan. The matches are being played as part of the preparations for the AFC U-23 Championship, which is set be held in Thailand in January and will serve as qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.
The team is set to play the first friendly against Jordan on September 6th at Aspire Pitch No. 4, before playing them again on September 9th on the same ground.
Qatar qualified for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship after topping their qualifying group with seven points from three games, finishing ahead of Oman on goal difference. Afghanistan and Nepal came third and fourth respectively.
Sanchez has a great track record with Qatar's various national teams, starting with the AFC U-19 Championship victory in 2014, followed by a third-place finish at the AFC U-23 Championship in 2018 and finally the historic triumph with the senior team at Asia's most prestigious tournament the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Qatar team: Meshaal Barsham, Saad al-Sheeb, Pedro Miguel, Salem al-Hajri, Tarek Salman, Abdelkarim Hassan, Khoukhi Boualem, Hassan al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Abdulaziz al-Ansari, Hashim Ali (Al Sadd), Bassam al-Rawi, Assim Madibo, Almoez Ali, Karim Boudiaf, Ali Afif, Mohammed al-Bakri (Al Duhail), Yousuf Abdurrazaq, Musab Kheder, Ahmed Fathi (Al Arabi), Almahdi Ali, Ahmed Alaaeldin (Al Gharafa), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al Rayyan), Abdullah Abdulsalam (Al Ahli).
Under-23 (Olympic team): Mohamed Ismail Abushanab, Amro Seraj, Nasser Abdulsalam, Ilyas Ahmed, Andiy Syahputra, Abdullah Ali al-Saai, Ahmed al-Janehi, Salah Hassan (Al Gharafa), Khaled Muneer, Ahmed Suhail, Mohamed Waad (Al Wakrah), Ahmed al-Sebaei, Shehab al-Leythi, Khaled Mohamed (Al Duhail), Hazem Shehata, Yazan Naim, Hassan Balank (Umm Salal), Abdulrahman Mohamed Fahmy, Abdulrashid Umaru (Al Ahli), Adel Bader, Ahmed al-Menhali (Al Sailiya), Bahaa al-Leythi, Youssef Ayman (Qatar), Hussain Bahzad (Al Sadd), Ibrahim Masoud (Al Rayyan), Khalifa al-Malki (Al Arabi).
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