Qatar prepare for World Cup as Gold Cup guests

The Gold Cup is the most important national football team tournament in North, Central America and the Caribbean organised by CONCACAF every two years.

Every continent and every confederation has its national team tournament, but in July and August 2021 there are a few more to come. The pandemic forced the postponement of the EURO and Copa America, while the Gold Cup is on schedule. The last title was won by Mexico against the United States in 2019 at Soldier Field in Chicago with a goal by former Barça player Jonathan Dos Santos.

In 1996 CONCACAF decided to invite teams from outside its sporting umbrella. Teams from South America, Asia and Africa have been part of the tournament, although they have never won it. Brazil was runner-up twice in 1996 and 2003. South Korea was eliminated in the first round in 2000 and reached the semi-finals in 2002. Colombia has played in the Gold Cup three times. In 2000 they reached the final and lost to Canada. In 2003 they lost in the quarter-finals to Brazil and in 2005 they lost to Panama in the semi-finals. Peru was invited in 2000, but lost in the semi-finals to Colombia. Ecuador did not advance beyond the group stage in 2002. South Africa played the tournament in 2005 and was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Panama. In 2021 it is the Qatar national team that will be invited to the Gold Cup for the first time in its history.

The move aims to put the Qatari national team on the international football circuit ahead of the World Cup to be hosted in November-December 2022. The Qatar Football Federation was founded in 1970 and the national team played its first match against Bahrain on 27 March that year.

Qatar has never played in a World Cup. Their first participation will be as hosts of the 2022 World Cup, which they were awarded in 2010. They have had better luck in the Asian Cup. Their first appearance was in 1980 and they have played in every edition except 1996. They lifted the title in 2019 after beating Japan 1-3 in the final at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Qatar have also contested the Copa America once. It was in 2019 and lost in the first round, although before that they were able to draw 2-2 with Paraguay. They failed to beat Colombia (1-0) and Messi's Argentina (0-2). For the 2020 edition held in 2021 they had to turn down the invitation along with Australia because of the pandemic.

Qatar is the 58th-ranked team in the FIFA rankings, their best position was 53rd in 1993 and their worst ranking was 112th in 2010. Since 2013 the owner of the Qatari bench is the Spaniard Félix Sánchez Bas (Barcelona, 1975) who has made his career in Qatar since he arrived at the Aspire Academy in 2006. Over the years he has been in charge of the national team's youth teams, from the U-19s (with which he won the 2014 Asian Football Confederation championship), then the U-20s, the U-23s and the senior team with which he won the Asian Cup in 2019.

Sanchez has called up three of the national team's all-time top ten goalscorers in Hassan al-Haydos, Almoez Ali and Akram Afif. The 30-year-old Haydos is a midfielder who has always played in his country's domestic league with 66 goals scored. He has played a total of 83 games for his national team since 2010 and has scored 31 goals. Afif is a 24-year-old striker who has played in Belgium and Spain. He made nine appearances for Sporting Gijon in 2016 in Primera Division. With Qatar he has played at U-20, U-21 and U-23 level and scored two goals in the group stage of the Gold Cup. Almoez is another 24-year-old striker. He has played in Austria, although he has played most of his games for Al-Duhail in his home country. He had a brief spell in Spain, with Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa in 2016 but did not make any appearances. He also has two goals in the first round.

Qatar have been a surprise package in the first round of the Gold Cup with seven points from nine goals scored and two conceded. They drew 3-3 against Panama, beat Grenada 4-0 and in their final match beat Honduras 2-0. The Spanish coach has put together a competitive squad to face the country's first World Cup with confidence. Football is starting a new phase in Qatar with a lot of investment in discovering talent. The most important thing is that some of these players are able to develop their careers outside their borders to raise the level of their national team.