Qatar football team has been in phenomenal form, maintaining its fine run after clinching back-to-back AFC Asian Cup titles. They defeated Kuwait 3-0 at the weekend to maintain their perfect record in FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 joint qualifiers showing significant improvement in their ranks.
Under head coach Marquez Lopez, who secured a contract until 2026 after guiding Al Annabi to their successful Asian Cup title defence last month as interim coach, the win against Kuwait was Qatar’s eighth consecutive victory including seven wins at the continental showpiece. Qatar, having also defeated Afghanistan and India in qualifiers, are now leading their group and will advance to the next stage of qualifiers if they beat Kuwait in a reverse leg on Tuesday. Top two teams from each of the nine groups in the second qualifying round will seal their spots in 2027 Asian Cup, besides advancing to the third round of the World Cup qualifying.
Qatar’s recent form has helped them jump 21 places up to 37th spot in the FIFA rankings. If the national team maintains its momentum, it has strong chances of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time, having made their debut as hosts in 2022. In other positive sign, star forward Akram Afif, who was the top scorer at the Asian Cup with eight goals, struck two goals in the win over Kuwait after being promoted as captain to replace Hassan Al Haydos, who retired from international football last week.
Meanwhile, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) is planning to take new measures to further raise the level of national football with an aim to achieve more success at international arena. Recently, the QFA reviewed its strategy for the upcoming season hoping to bring further improvement. This came during a Ramadan ghabga in the presence of QFA President Jassim bin Rashid Al Buainain, members of the Executive Committee, representatives of the Qatar Stars League Foundation, and club officials.
The QFA President praised the efforts made by the association’s members, club representatives and partners during the period leading up to the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup. Al Buainain explained that the federation’s strategy for the coming period includes many programs and goals that the federation seeks to achieve on the ground, stressing that these goals will not be achieved except with the concerted efforts of everyone, in continuation of previous successes and the move towards an ambitious vision for higher horizons for Qatari football. He hoped success for Qatar’s national and Olympic teams success in their upcoming challenges.
