As has been the case since the first World Cup in 1930 – with the only exception being Italy in 1934 – Qatar have received automatic qualification to the group stages of the 2022 tournament as hosts.
Many pundits and fans alike have described Qatar as the worst team to play in a World Cup, and they are almost certainly the worst to host one.
But has Qatar really earnt those labels, or might they have a chance of delighting the home crowd and doing well come November?
Let’s start off with the obvious facts. Qatar are 52nd in the FIFA men’s world rankings, and there are 32 teams at the World Cup finals. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but have they come close?
In 1974, in what was meant to be their first World Cup qualifying campaign, Qatar withdrew from the tournament. They failed to reach the third round of qualifying for Russia 2018, but they did for South Africa in 2010 and also in 2002.
The country won the Asia Cup in 2019, beating Japan in the final to win their first major tournament. Despite being in Asia, Qatar took part in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2021. They reached the semi-finals before losing to hosts and eventual champions USA 1-0. They don’t always do well in continental tournaments, finishing last in their 2019 Copa America group.
So they have some tournament pedigree, but who are their players and what teams do they play for? For the 2021 Arab Cup, Qatar named a squad comprising only players from the Qatar Stars League, the top-flight competition in the country. Eleven of the 23 play for Al-Sadd, who are reigning champions and the most successful Qatari football club by far.
Overall, I think many people will underestimate Qatar as the World Cup nears. Due to their lack of fixtures, given they have already qualified, FIFA have been organising several friendlies for Qatar to play. FIFA seem determined to not suffer a lot of embarrassment with this host nation.
What can we expect from Qatar? There will be two factors that will impact how well they do in the finals. The first is the group stage draw. If they are dealt a relatively kind draw, there’s certainly a chance they progress to the last 16. The draw takes place on Saturday at 3am AEDT.
The second factor will be their home support and how much of it they will receive. It is safe to say Qatar is not known to have a football-loving population, but will fans come out in large numbers to help the national team? High attendances have to be expected.
These two reasons will influence whether the first Arab World Cup hosts flop out early or if they progress to wow the world.
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
How good is Qatar? About as good as Australia…..pretty poor! Neither will win a game…that’s if Australia qualify.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
It's going to be a bit like 2010, absolutely every other nation is dying to get into the same group as the host nation for the easy 3 points.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
I wish Sydney FC deliberately lost their first FFA cup game, and their ACL play off. Sydney have to play 6 ACL games in 2 weeks in South East Asia on top of everything else. I assume Channel 10 and Paramount have a team of lawyers out to break the current Tv deal, like Foxtel and they have to finish on time because the schedule has been absolutely crazy and its getting worse and there is no way teams can perform in the ACL with this schedule. City didnt have to play in a play off and exited the FFA cup in the quarters so they have played 2 games less.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Australia spent more money each in real terms on two failed Olympic bids and the successful Sydney bid, then quite interestingly the list of bribes from the Sydney bid and they were legislated to be kept secret in NSW are quite long yet media is not interested . AFL figures have written articles saying that a mens world cup in Australia would be the end of the AFL and their articles on globalisation. Compare to that to Gaelic football in Ireland where you have Irish players in the EPL during all hours of the day plus champions league plus national team games plus Euros plus champions league, Celtic as an Irish team in the SPL, they wouldn't have the 100 million dollar media promotional spend let alone the media control the AFL have in Australia. The only conclusion is that AFL figures think there sport is so rubbish and needs to be a protected species compared to Gaelic Football and Hurling because Gaelic football is really up against it yet still very popular in Ireland, hurling is even more niche yet they get an 80k crowd to their championship.
Coastyboi
Guest
Australia spent around 40 to 50 million dollars on the World Cup bid. The final figure will never be known, as there’s no legitimate paper trail, no proper investigation, & no ownership of the missing funds. The mainstream media completely turned on Australian football after the mismanaged debacle. Quite sad.
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
I did say, "High attendances have to be expected."
Campbell Ross
Roar Rookie
It wouldn't be a surprise at all. On reflection, missing out on the opportunity to play with the South Americans (Copa America?) last year has left us a little light on experience, if, if, if, we can beat UAE and then face Peru. But imagine for a moment that UAE beats both Australia and then Peru... anyway, it's going to be interesting viewing! On a related theme, I wish Australian teams would actually take the Asian Champions League seriously.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
I dont get how you can state its safe to say Qataris dont have a football loving population, and question whether they will turn out for their national team. The one time they do turn out in numbers is for the Qatari national team. the current population of Qatar there is only a small number of actual Qataris and a lot of poor immigrant workers who wouldn;t be able to afford a world cup ticket. So its going to be up to travelling fans and the wealthier immigrant workers from the Qatar, UAE to fill the stands for other games. At club level in Qatar the crowds are small but then you have 12 teams in a small population. In the UAE I know they pay immigrant workers or offer them free food to come to local clubs games.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
its going to be a woeful showing for the asian confederation in qatar. not a single team will get out of the group stage