Doha: Qatar national team is currently working hard in their preparations for the qualifiers, and its first match against India.
The team has been at their preparatory camp at the Aspire Academy, which started on May 16, with the players fully committed to the training programme put in place by the coaching staff, who are looking to raise the team’s technical and physical fitness levels ahead of the two remaining games on the path towards successfully qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.
This is especially important, considering the upcoming period which will witness the national team’s participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and then the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, which Doha will host.
Qatar registered a big 5-0 win over Bangladesh in their last Group E game on December 4, after the AFC’s decision to resume the joint Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the Asian Cup 2023 in China.
Seven matches remain in the qualifiers.
Qatar is currently on top of the Group E rankings with 16 points from six games, compared to 12 points from five matches for Oman, 4 for Afghanistan, 3 for India and one point for Bangladesh.
Qatar have already qualified for the 2022 World Cup finals as the host country, but participate in these qualifiers in order to reach the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China, looking to defend the title they won in UAE in 2019. In the event that Qatar wins the group, the number of Asian Cup qualifying spots allocated to the top runners-up teams will increase from four to five.
Qatar started their journey with a 6-0 win over Afghanistan, before drawing 0-0 with India in the second round.
After that, they returned to winning ways and registered four consecutive victories, defeating Bangladesh 2-0, Oman 2-1, Afghanistan 1-0 and Bangladesh 5-0.
