Qatar at the FIFA World Cup

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Prior to qualifying as host nation, Qatar had never qualified for the FIFA World Cup since the country's independence in 1971. While Qatar has been a regular participant in the continental AFC Asian Cup, the national side has always fallen short in the final stage of World Cup campaigns. By hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup and its failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia, Qatar became the only nation to play in World Cup without qualifying for it and the second nation after Italy (back in 1934) to qualifying for the World Cup as hosts after being absent in all previous World Cup before. [1]

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In 2017, the Qatari government has introduced reforms aimed at improving conditions for migrant workers. In January 2022, FIFA president Gianni Infantino acknowledged the country's amendments in work legislation, protection of workers and minimum wage while addressing more alterations to be made. [2] FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended Qatar's decision to host the tournament. Others have asserted that Qatar has a better human rights record than Russia and China, which were subjected to less harsh criticism for the same problems when hosting important athletic events in the years before the tournament.

According to Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, prior to the tournament, "the new Kafala system tranche of law will put an end to Kafala and establish a contemporary industrial relations system."

Qatar's national team showed some improvement in their performance since the country was awarded the tournament, including winning the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, [3] and in 2019 Copa América drew against former champions and World Cup quarter-finalists Paraguay with 2-2. [4]

At rank 50, Qatar entered the tournament as the third lowest ranked team of the total 32; placing higher only above Saudi Arabia and Ghana. [5] The nation performed poorly and set some upsetting records among host nations in the process. Qatar became the first host nation to lose not only its opening match, but also all three of its matches. Upon losing the second match against Senegal with a score of 3-1, Qatar became the first host nation to be eliminated from the tournament in two matches after the Netherlands later on drew with Ecuador (putting both with four points, Senegal with three and Qatar with zero). [6] Qatar also finished last in their group by failing to secure any point, making them the first host nation to have 0 points at the end of the group stage. [7] The nation thereby became the worst performing host nation in the history of the tournament, overtaking South Africa, who had finished third in their group with 4 points and were eliminated based on goal difference. [8]

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup qualification
YearResultPositionPldWD*LGFGAPldWDLGFGA
Flag of Uruguay.svg 1930 Did not enterDid not enter
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg 1934
Flag of France.svg 1938
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg 1950
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg 1954
Flag of Sweden.svg 1958
Flag of Chile.svg 1962
Flag of England.svg 1966
Flag of Mexico.svg 1970
Flag of Germany.svg 1974 WithdrewWithdrew
Flag of Argentina.svg 1978 Did not qualify410339
Flag of Spain.svg 1982 420253
Flag of Mexico.svg 1986 420263
Flag of Italy.svg 1990 11461128
Flag of the United States.svg 1994 8512228
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg 1998 116142110
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg Flag of Japan.svg 2002 147432413
Flag of Germany.svg 2006 6303168
Flag of South Africa.svg 2010 166461620
Flag of Brazil.svg 2014 145541814
Flag of Russia.svg 2018 169163514
Flag of Qatar.svg 2022 Group stage32nd3003178710181
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Flag of Mexico.svg Flag of the United States.svg 2026 To be determinedTo be determined
Flag of Morocco.svg Flag of Portugal (official).svg Flag of Spain.svg 2030
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg 2034
TotalGroup stage1/25300317108502236178110

By match

World CupRoundOpponentScoreResultVenueQatar scorers
2022 Group stage Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 0–2 L Al Khor
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 1–3 L Doha M. Muntari
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 0–2 L Al Khor

Qatar 2022

Group stage

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 321051+47Advanced to knockout stage
2Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 320154+16
3Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 311143+14
4Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar (H)30031760
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Qatar  Flag of Qatar.svg 0–2 Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador
Report
  • Valencia Soccerball shade.svg16' (pen.), 31'
Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Attendance: 67,372
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

Qatar  Flag of Qatar.svg 1–3 Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal
Report
Al Thumama Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 41,797
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg 2–0 Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar
Report
Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Attendance: 66,784
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

Record players

Matches

RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups
1 Boualem Khoukhi 32022
Abdelkarim Hassan 32022
Ró-Ró 32022
Homam Ahmed 32022
Hassan Al-Haydos 32022
Karim Boudiaf 32022
Abdulaziz Hatem 32022
Almoez Ali 32022
Akram Afif 32022
Mohammed Muntari 32022

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerGoalsWorld Cups
1 Mohammed Muntari 12022

See also

References

  1. Montague, James (October 9, 2017). "Qatar Has a World Cup Date. It Still Needs a World-Class Team". The New York Times.
  2. "FIFA chief Infantino lauds Qatar's labour reforms". ESPN.com. 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  3. "What the Asian Cup win means for Qatar, host of 2022 World Cup". www.aljazeera.com.
  4. "Qatar impressive performance facing Paraguay in Copa America 2019". Thể thao 247. 17 June 2019.
  5. Thomas, Joshua (4 December 2022). "FIFA rankings for all 32 World Cup teams: How are they calculated and when are they updated?". The Sporting News. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  6. "Qatar creates embarrassing record, becomes first host nation to get knocked out of FIFA WC after two matches". Times Now News. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  7. "Qatar sets embarrassing record, becomes first host nation in history to finish FIFA WC campaign with 0 points". Times Now News. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  8. Brown, Luke (25 November 2022). "Qatar lose again — but has a host nation ever been knocked out in the World Cup group stage?". The Athletic. Retrieved 4 December 2022.