Akram Afif
Head coach Felix Sanchez sprang no surprises as hosts Qatar yesterday named their 26-man final squad for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with Akram Afif and Almoez Ali set to spearhead their attack at home.
Sanchez was shown handing a file containing the name of players to an official as Alkass Sports Channel announced the final Al Annabi squad during their live broadcast at 20:22. Players were shown celebrating their inclusion in the team on projector screens on iconic buildings of Qatar including MIA, Msheireb Downtown Doha, and Torch Hotel during the live broadcast.
Most of the players, who helped Qatar win their maiden Asian Cup title in 2019, were named by Sanchez ahead of the team’s World Cup debut.
Midfielder Abdelrahman Mustafa, who was included in the list of 27 players by Sanchez before Al Annabi’s third and final training camp in Spain, was dropped.
Qatar squad for the World Cup is entirely made up of players who ply their trade in the QNB Stars League, with half from champions Al Sadd.
Captained by seasoned forward Hassan Al Haydos, the Qatar squad is a mix of experienced players and young talent as the team aims to reach the knockout stage from Group A, which includes title contenders Netherlands, African champions Senegal and Ecuador.
Al Haydos, who has played over 160 internationals, will have versatile Afif and striker Almoez – who has 42 goals in 85 games for his country – leading the attack, with Mohamed Muntari, Ahmed Alaaeldin and Naif Alhadhrami also picked among the forwards.
With Sanchez looking for a compact defence, the likes of experienced Boualem Khoukhi, Bassam Al Rawi and Pedro Miguel will help his first choice goalkeeper Saad Alsheeb in guarding the goal.
Talented Meshaal Barsham and Yousef Hassan are the other two goalkeepers named in the squad.
Experienced trio of Karim Boudiaf, Abdelaziz Hatim and Ismail Mohamad are among the midfielders.
Qatar, who will play the tournament opener against Ecuador on November 20, head into their maiden World Cup on the back of five consecutive friendly victories in Marbella, Spain.
During their month-long training camp there, they defeated Albania, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.
Qatar will enter the World Cup as the most prepared side as they started their final preparations in June in Marbella. The team then moved to Vienna as players spent almost four months in near-lockdown to prepare for the tournament.
Al Annabi also played friendlies against Canada, Croatia U-23 and Chile in Vienna.
Since winning the Asian Cup, Qatar have gained vast experience, featuring in Copa America and the Gold Cup, where they reached the semi-finals as a guest side. Al Annabi also reached the semi-finals of FIFA Arab Cup last year and defeated Egypt to finish third in the tournament.
Sanchez is aware there will be a lot of expectations from the home fans during the World Cup.
“We will face teams that have reached the finals of a World Cup, are champions of Africa. Many players are the best in the world in their positions, with World Cup and Champions League experience…. So we know what our role is, we know that we are not favourites but also, within our possibilities, we must set high expectations, high goals, try to compete to the maximum,” he said in an interview recently.
After meeting Ecuador, Qatar will take on Senegal on November 25 and face the Netherlands, four days later.
