| Club | MP | W | D | L | GD | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ecuador |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
 Netherlands |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
 Senegal |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
 Qatar |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Group A
29/11/2022
Stadium
STARTS AT
16:00 GMT+0100Al Bayt Stadium
Putting to one side the controversial award of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar, the small nation from the Middle East will play in their first ever major football finals this year. As hosts of the tournament, they skipped the qualifying stage and were drawn in Group A alongside Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands.
At enormous cost, the Qatar government want to put on a show stopping display to dampen any misgivings about the hosting award. Around £200 billion is rumoured to have been spent on staging the Finals, with the eight Qatar World Cup stadiums being constructed with ultra-modern designs.
Although the Qatar 2022 squad is made up entirely of home-based players, they have amassed an incredible number of caps due to the limited player numbers in the country. They’ll hope this tight, close-knit spirit can help them cause a shock in a group they’ll hope to progress from.
Félix Sánchez has been involved with Qatari football continuously since 2006. The Spanish coach initially became coach of the Aspire Academy, working with the country’s best young footballers who had a chance of making it into the first team squad.
His work here saw him appointed first as the Qatar Under 19s manager before taking charge of the U20 and U23 age groups as well. When the first-team post became available in 2017, Qatar abandoned their usual approach of coaxing more experienced managers from overseas and instead upgraded Sánchez to the position.
Since the Qatar 2022 World Cup was announced, Sánchez has been able to prepare his side with appearances at the 2019 Copa América and 2021 Gold Cup, as well as a varied number of friendlies against teams from all over the world.
Hassan Al-Haydos is the longstanding captain of the Qatar national side. He is also the country’s record appearance holder, collecting over 160 caps and scoring more than 30 goals along the way.
Al-Haydos is a creative forward who can fill in numerous roles across the front line, typically as a wide forward, but also as a secondary striker or attacking midfielder. He has spent his entire career at the same club – Al-Sadd – winning the Qatar Stars League four times along with the AFC Champions League.
From the 1938 World Cup onwards, every nation who has been awarded hosting duties has automatically qualified for the tournament. This is the case for Qatar in 2022, who have never previously qualified via the conventional Asian group stages.
The 2022 Qatar World Cup squad is made up of players who all play for the top sides in the premier division of their own country – the Qatar Stars League. However, striker Almoez Ali has had spells in Austria and Spain, whilst Akram Afif was a member of the Sevilla and Villareal youth teams.
Without having to fulfil qualifying fixtures, Qatar scheduled many friendly games throughout 2021/22. They include a recent win vs Bulgaria and draw against Slovenia, although they did lose 4-0 to both Ireland and Serbia last year. It should also be noted that they won the FIFA Arab Cup, overcoming the UAE (5-0), Algeria (2-1) and Egypt (Penalties) along the way.
