After their unsuccessful World Cup debut on home soil, Qatar are out to make amends. This also applies to coach Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked shortly before the first World Cup match in 2018.
04.06.2026, 05:01
04.06.2026, 07:03
SDA
Four years ago, Qatar caused an inglorious premiere: at the 22nd edition of the World Cup, a host failed to score any points for the first time. The team, which had become Asian champions three years previously, had set its sights high in front of a home crowd. But instead of sparking football euphoria in the small Gulf state, Al-Annabi ("the wine reds") were clearly defeated by Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands.
Just over a year later, the team rehabilitated itself and defended its title at the Asian Championship, which was also held in Qatar. On their way to the trophy, Qatar beat Uzbekistan, Iran and finally Jordan in the final. Three teams that would later also qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Benefiting from the special qualifying format
The World Cup qualifiers were another tough affair for Qatar. After a 5-0 defeat against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), coach Tintin Marquez was replaced by his assistant Luis Garcia. However, things did not go much better under him: Qatar missed out on direct qualification and had to go through the play-offs.
In these, Qatar benefited from a special format: in the group of three with the UAE and Oman, the teams played each other once, with all matches taking place in Qatar. The home team made the most of the advantage never fully explained by the Asian association and celebrated their first qualification for the World Cup. Things should go better at this one than at the first attempt.
Abrupt end as Spain coach
For the decisive qualifying matches, the Qatari association once again hired a new coach: Spaniard Julen Lopetegui. He had played in one World Cup as a player, in 1994 in the USA as Spain's third goalkeeper. As a coach, Lopetegui was also about to make his World Cup debut with Spain in 2018, but was sacked two days before the team's first outing.
Shortly beforehand, it had emerged that Lopetegui would become Real Madrid coach after the tournament. The club had used an exit clause in Lopetegui's contract and apparently only informed the Spanish FA shortly before the official media release. The offended federation reacted and replaced Lopetegui, under whom Spain had remained unbeaten in 20 games, with sporting director Fernando Hierro.
It can almost only get better
The fact that the Spaniards then experienced a disappointing tournament, sensationally failing to beat hosts Russia in the round of 16 and thus clearly missing out on defending their title, was hardly any consolation for Lopetegui. His time at Real Madrid also came to an early and abrupt end. After just 14 games and a 5:1 defeat in the Clasico against Barcelona, he was also let go by the Whites.
This was followed by a longer spell at Sevilla FC and two shorter ones at Wolverhampton and West Ham before Lopetegui became Qatari national team coach. Now his World Cup dream is coming true after all. However, the 59-year-old cannot dream quite as big with Qatar as he did with Spain eight years ago. The team, in which practically all the players are involved in the domestic league, does hint at its potential from time to time, but lacks the necessary consistency.
Nevertheless, after their unsuccessful experiences, things can only get better for Qatar and coach Lopetegui at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
