🏆
2
Asian Cups
Champions in 2019 and 2023 — the second on home soil.
AL-ANNABI2× ASIAN CHAMPIONS
FILE No. 41CLASS: OUTSIDERSTATUS: QUALIFIED ON MERITWC 2026 · USA·CAN·MEX
☆From hosts to qualifiers — Qatar earned this one.
QATAR
Al-Annabi · The Maroon// the hosts of 2022 return, this time having qualified the hard way
“In 2022 we hosted. In 2026 we qualified. That means everything.”— The view from Doha
The record
2 — 2019, 2023
Asian Cups
2 — 2022 (host), 2026
WC appearances
2026
First qualified WC
#55
FIFA Ranking
01 · The Dossier — The Soul
From hosting the world
to earning its place
Qatar's 2022 World Cup came automatically, as hosts, and ended without a win. The 2026 campaign is different: the back-to-back Asian champions had to qualify — and they did.
Aspire Academy+Asian Cup ×2+Earned it+Redemption
DohaAspire AcademyAl-Annabi2019 & 2023 championsYalla Qatar
Qatar's rise was engineered through the Aspire Academy, a vast investment in youth development that produced the side which stunned Asia by winning the 2019 Asian Cup, then retained it on home soil in 2023 — a genuine continental power.
Hosting in 2022 brought three defeats and the unwanted record of the first host to lose its opener. This time there's no shortcut: Qatar qualified through the Asian playoffs. The mission in Group B is the first World Cup win — and the respect that comes with earning your place.
02 · The Cabinet — Honours
The record
Two continental crowns in a row — and a first World Cup reached on merit rather than as host.
05 · The Legend — The Golden Boot
Almoez Ali
At the 2019 Asian Cup he scored nine goals in a single tournament — a record — to fire Qatar to a stunning, unexpected continental title across the Gulf in Abu Dhabi.
Almoez Ali became the face of the Aspire-built generation, the striker whose goals turned a development project into Asian champions.
Now Qatar's all-time top scorer, he leads Al-Annabi into a World Cup they actually qualified for — chasing the first victory the host campaign of 2022 never delivered.
// The Qatar greats
02
Akram Afif
2023 Asian Cup hero · the creator
03
Hassan Al-Haydos
The long-serving captain
04
Khalfan Ibrahim
The early Aspire prodigy
ALMOEZ
Almoez Ali
9
Goals · 2019 AC
40+
Qatar goals
🇶🇦
Record scorer
06 · Threat Assessment
⚠ HOSTILE · THE FIRST-WIN HUNT
The enemy
Group B is balanced and winnable in patches — Canada, Bosnia, Switzerland. Qatar's enemy is its own World Cup record: played three, lost three, as hosts in 2022.
The 0-from-3 host recordHEAVY
Switzerland — the seeded openerHIGH
Step up from Asian levelREAL
Qatar arrives with a point to prove and a continental pedigree. A first World Cup win would erase the disappointment of 2022 and validate the whole Aspire project.
The wounds
// the host-nation hurt
// Group B — the field
Switzerland
GROUP B
The tournament regulars — the seeded opener in the Bay Area.
Canada
GROUP B
The co-hosts — a Matchday 2 test in Vancouver.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
GROUP B
Džeko's side — the likely battle for a result in Seattle.
04 · The road — The road · WC 2026
Kickoff
10
Days
05
Hours
33
Mins
35
Secs
Until Qatar's first kick — vs Switzerland · June 13
07 · The Creator
Lightning rod
He was the magician of the 2023 Asian Cup, scoring in the final from the spot three times. Akram Afif is Qatar's match-winner — the man who must conjure the moment that lands a first World Cup win.
AFIF
2023 Asian Cup MVPThe talismanQatar's creatorAl-Sadd
🪄
The magician
29
Age at the World Cup
№11
The talisman
Twice an Asian Cup winner and its best player in 2023, he is the difference-maker Qatar lacked in 2022. “The first World Cup win likely runs through Afif.”
The First-Win Meter
// winless again, or breakthrough at last?
Out without a winFirst WC victory
Current reading
The steep test
World football is a level above the Asian Cup, and Group B has no easy game. The first win may stay out of reach.
08 · Key Power · World Cup 2026
ALMOEZ ALI
The marksman · Al-Duhail · No. 19
Afif creates; Almoez Ali finishes. Qatar's all-time top scorer and the record-breaking hero of 2019, he is the proven goal threat the host campaign of 2022 couldn't get firing. Against this group, Qatar's rare chances must be taken — and he is the man trusted to take them. The first World Cup win needs his boots.
🎯
The marksman
29
Age at the World Cup
№19
Al-Duhail
The last line of the file
In 2022 we hosted.
In 2026 we earned it.
Al-AnnabiAspire AcademyGroup BAsian championsYalla Qatar
Squad
As of 2026-06-01
Manager
Lopetegui
ES