Qatar has qualified for the World Cup thanks to them being the host nation. Qatar won seven straight games, including a victory against South Korea and Japan, and scored 19 goals on their route to winning the 2019 Asian Cup, so that’s not to say they are completely out of the running. While they have recently been invited to compete in the Copa America and Gold Cup (the continental championships of South and North America, respectively), Qatar also finished third in the 2021 Arab Cup, which they hosted. The Arab country placed last in a group that included Paraguay, Colombia, and Argentina and was eliminated early from the 2019 Copa America, although they did advance to the Gold Cup semifinals last year before losing to the USA.
Qatar didn’t need to participate in qualification because they were assured a spot in the winter finals. Instead, Felix Sanchez’s team participated in European qualifying as a non-competitive member of Group A, which required them to play friendlies both at home and away against the other five nations in the group to assist them to get ready for the competition. Qatar is in a group with the Netherlands, the African champions Senegal, and Ecuador despite being among the top-ranked teams in the draw as a result of being the hosts. Making it to the knockout rounds would be a noteworthy accomplishment.
With only five matches played in 2022, Qatar has been relatively inactive in the run-up to hosting the World Cup. They have only dropped one of those games, a 2-0 home loss to rival World Cup contender Canada in September. However, Qatar has only won one of those five games—a 2-1 triumph against Bulgaria in March—and has lost the other four. Chile, Jamaica, and Slovenia—none of which have advanced to the finals—all earned draws in the other three games played in Qatar, meaning Felix Sanchez’s team will approach their home tournament without having won in eight months.
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