Al-Annabi of Qatar before the World Cup.. distinguished history and unlimited ambition

With the historic hosting of the world football tournament in the Middle East and on Arab lands, and Doha’s readiness for the most brilliant appearance in the history of the tournament, Al-Annabi of Qatar seeks to benefit from the factors of the land and the public and achieve honorable results during its first participation in the history of the World Cup tournaments, in the twenty-second edition that begins November 20 current.

Al-Annabi will launch the World Cup by playing the opening match at Al-Bayt Stadium against Ecuador, in Group A, which also includes the Netherlands and Senegal.

Since the announcement of the Qatari bid to host the World Cup, a plan has begun to prepare the first team to participate in the historic event, in parallel with the logistical preparations for the most important sporting competition in the world.

The Qatar Football Association was established in 1960, and obtained membership in the International Federation 12 years later, and joined the Asian Confederation in 1974.

The Qatar national team played its first international confrontation on March 27, 1970, and it was against its Bahraini brother, and it ended with Bahrain winning 2/1, and Mubarak Faraj scored the only goal for Annabi.

While the year 2019 was a witness to the greatest achievement in the history of Qatari football, represented in winning the Asian Cup title for the first time after Al-Annabi defeated its Japanese counterpart in the final match 3/1, during the edition hosted by the UAE.

Al-Annabi’s most prominent achievements include winning the West Asian Championship in 2014 and the gold medal of the Asian Games “Qatar 2006”.

In terms of the monthly rankings issued by FIFA, the best position in the career of the Qatar national team was 42nd, and before the start of the upcoming World Cup within days, and in the latest classification, Al-Annabi occupies the 48th place.

The Qatari team recorded its presence in all the Arab Gulf Cup tournaments, where Al-Annabi won the title 3 times, in 1992, 2004 and 2014, and finished second 4 times in 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002, and came third also four times, in 1974, 1976, 2003 and 2009.

Not only did the Qatar national team participate in the Asian Cup tournaments, as it enjoyed an exceptional presence in the Copa America for the Latin American continent and the CONCACAF Gold Cup that is held within the North American Federation.

The first attendance at the tournament was in 2019, when the Qatar Federation received an official invitation from the South American Confederation “CONMEBOL”, and it was a unique opportunity to prepare for the World Cup, through contact with the strong Latin teams.

Al-Annabi played in the second group, and drew in its first match with Paraguay 2/2, before losing its other two matches against Colombia and Argentina.

In the same year, the Qatari Federation accepted a similar invitation from CONCACAF to appear in the 2021 Gold Cup, and Al-Annabi reached the semi-finals, after tying with Panama and defeating Geranada and Honduras in the group stage, then overcoming El Salvador in the quarter-finals, before losing with difficulty from the states. United in the golden square.

Many players appeared in the Al-Annabi shirt, most notably: Mubarak Anbar, Mansour Moftah, Khaled Salman, Muhammad Wafa, Mubarak Mustafa, Ibrahim Khalfan, Abdulaziz Hassan, Majed Al-Sayegh and Adel Khamis. Ali strongly to break this record.

During the upcoming World Cup, the Qatari national team is counting on players who have represented Al-Annabi for years, such as Akram Afif, Hassan Al-Haydos, Abdul-Karim Hassan (the best player in Asia in 2018), Al-Moez Ali (the top scorer of the 2019 Asian Cup), Boualem Khokhi, Bassam Al-Rawi, Abdulaziz Hatem, and goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb.

The current Spanish coach, Felix Sanchez, assumed the task of training the Qatar national team on July 3, 2017, and left a clear imprint on the performance and results of the team, benefiting from his supervision of most of the first-team players during his leadership of the youth team, and Sanchez came, instead of the Uruguayan Jorge Fossati, in the last meters From the Asian qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.

Sanchez did not have any experience outside Qatar, where he started from the Aspire Academy, and then put the youth team on the podium by winning the AFC U-19 Cup in 2014.

Sanchez led Al-Annabi in 68 matches, winning 34 of them while drawing 13 times and losing 21 matches. Under his supervision, the national team scored 113 goals and conceded 85 goals. On May 6, 2019, the Qatari Federation extended Sanchez’s contract, to keep him in charge until the end of his participation in he national team in the 2022 World Cup finals.

Al-Annabi will launch his first participation in the World Cup as the host country, in Group A against Ecuador, and it will have to fight Senegal (African Champion 2021) in the second match, November 25 at “Al-Thumama” stadium, then it will finish the group stage with a strong match against the Netherlands on the 29th of the same month, at Al-Bayt Stadium. And the Arab masses are waiting for Al-Annabi to appear in a way that gives strength to the tournament, accompanied by the Saudi green, as representatives of Gulf football, hoping that the two teams will reach the farthest possible point, and achieve an unprecedented achievement for Gulf football in particular and Arab in general.