Qatar in ‘good way’ ahead of 2022

For those who thought Qatar would at the very best make up the numbers at its own World Cup in 2022, this week’s eye-catching victory over Switzerland will have come as a big surprise.

It may only have been a friendly, but undeniably the 1-0 win -- in Lugano, Switzerland -- was a landmark and symbolic result in many ways for the Qatari team.

It was the first time Qatar had beaten a European team in their own country.

Switzerland, who reached the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup and are currently eighth in FIFA’s rankings, are also the highest-ranked side ever beaten by Al-Annabi (the maroons), ranked 88 places lower.

And for good measure the 86th-minute winner was scored by Akram Afif, the first Qatari to play in Spain’s La Liga and a product of Aspire Academy, an expensively-built Doha training centre which seeks to hothouse local talent.

The victory, almost four years to the day before the 2022 World Cup begins, was perhaps the first sign that Qatar is catching up with more established football powers.

“We are in a good way,” Xavi Hernandez, who earned 133 caps and a World Cup winners’ medal with Spain, told AFP referring to Qatar, where he now plays.

“We have many talented players and it means that [coach] Felix Sanchez is doing a really good job. “We must keep going like that. It’s a big win, of course.”

Sanchez said the result would make the country “very proud”.

While much of the attention on the 2022 World Cup has focused on off-field matters -- corruption allegations, human rights, regional politics -- there has also been deep concern about how the host country will perform on the pitch.

Qualification for Russia ended in failure as Qatar finished bottom of six in their final group stage. They had more coaches (three) than victories (two) during this final stretch of 10 games, and were beaten by, among others, a homeless Syria team.

They limped out of the World Cup at the expensively-refurbished Khalifa Stadium, one of the 2022 venues, beaten by an abject Chinese side. The symbolism was apparent even to the few fans who bothered to turn up that night.

It confirmed Qatar would become the first country to host a World Cup without ever before playing in a finals since Italy way back in 1934.

Critics said elimination emphasised the country’s lack of footballing pedigree and predicted they would become the first host nation not to win a game at their own World Cup.

Qatar in good way ahead of 2022

For those who thought Qatar would at the very best make up the numbers at its own World Cup in 2022, this weeks eye-catching victory over Switzerland will have come as a big surprise. It may only have been a friendly, but undeniably the 1-0 win -- in Lugano, Switzerland -- was a landmark and symbolic result in many ways for the Qatari team. It was the first time Qatar had beaten a European team in their own country. Switzerland, who reached the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup and are currently eighth in FIFAs rankings, are also the highest-ranked side ever beaten by Al-Annabi (the maroons), ranked 88 places lower. And for good measure the 86th-minute winner was scored by Akram Afif, the first Qatari to play in Spains La Liga and a product of Aspire Academy, an expensively-built Doha training centre which seeks to hothouse local talent. The victory, almost four years to the day before the 2022 World Cup begins, was perhaps the first sign that Qatar is catching up with more established football powers. We are in a good way, Xavi Hernandez, who earned 133 caps and a World Cup winners medal with Spain, told AFP referring to Qatar, where he now plays. We have many talented players and it means that [coach] Felix Sanchez is doing a really good job. We must keep going like that. Its a big win, of course. Sanchez said the result would make the country very proud. While much of the attention on the 2022 World Cup has focused on off-field matters -- corruption allegations, human rights, regional politics -- there has also been deep concern about how the host country will perform on the pitch. Qualification for Russia ended in failure as Qatar finished bottom of six in their final group stage. They had more coaches (three) than victories (two) during this final stretch of 10 games, and were beaten by, among others, a homeless Syria team. They limped out of the World Cup at the expensively-refurbished Khalifa Stadium, one of the 2022 venues, beaten by an abject Chinese side. The symbolism was apparent even to the few fans who bothered to turn up that night. It confirmed Qatar would become the first country to host a World Cup without ever before playing in a finals since Italy way back in 1934. Critics said elimination emphasised the countrys lack of footballing pedigree and predicted they would become the first host nation not to win a game at their own World Cup.