Qatar captain Hassan Al Haydos announced his retirement from international football, bringing an end to an illustrious career with the national team spanning 16 years. The experienced forward will go down in history as one of the most remarkable footballers the country has produced.
The announcement made by the Qatar Football Association (QFA) yesterday came five weeks after the 33-year-old led Al Annabi to their second consecutive AFC Asian Cup title. The experienced forward retired as a most capped Qatari footballer, having featured in 183 international matches in which he scored as many as 41 goals.
Al Haydos won three major trophies with Qatar – title triumph in the 2019 and 2023 Asian Cup editions and the 2014 Gulf Cup crown. He played in four editions of the Asian Cup including the 2011 and 2015 tournaments. Having started his international journey in 2008 with the Qatar Olympic team, Al Haydos won QFA’s Most Promising Player Award the same year, and was also named as QFA’s Best Player in 2015.
“Throughout his remarkable 16-year journey with Qatari national teams, Al Haydos has been a beacon of inspiration, embodying unwavering dedication and exemplary morals as a leader for Al Annabi. His contributions have been pivotal in securing numerous victories and championships, marking his legacy as one of Qatar’s most decorated footballers. As we bid farewell to a true icon, we express our utmost confidence in Al Haydos’s future endeavours and extend our heartfelt wishes for continued success,” QFA said in a statement.
QFA President Jassim Rashid Al Buenain regarded Al Haydos as a role model for future generations. “As athletes, we are proud of your achievements. Today we bid you farewell after your retirement from international football. We thank you for your dedication and your career with the national team, which will remain engraved in our memories and a role model for future generations,” he commented.
In other major recent development in football, FIFA awarded Qatar the hosting of the next five editions of the Boys’ FIFA U-17 World Cup from 2025 to 2029. Morocco will be the venue for FIFA U-17 Girls’ World Cup in the same period.
Boasting state-of-the-art infrastructure, Qatar has been home to major sports events becoming the world’s sports hub, having also staged the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - dubbed the best-ever edition of the global showpiece. FIFA said the decision to choose a single host nation for multiple editions centred on the ability to make “use of existing footballing infrastructure in the interest of tournament efficiencies and sustainability.”
