With Qatar hosting the world cup 2022, they have retained great ambitions of going beyond the group stage and for their national team.
Not only has the Arab nation embraced the hosting and spent a fortune to make this tournament a success, but also plan to make it to the top of the competition as a team.
They want to make history by excelling in a tough group that constitutes Ecuador, Senegal and Netherlands, this being their first appearance in this competition by virtue of being hosts.
In the world of football, this seems impossible, especially for a country with no history in football’s global stage.
There are no stopovers for them as they are the Asian Champions and have spent quite some time bringing in more talents to feature in this competition.
Hopefully, they will advance to the knockout stages.
A large number of people were shocked when Qatar was granted the host of World Cup in 2010 as they have a short football heritage.
According to a report by BBC covering the World Cup hosts, Qatar did not play their first official match until 1970, when they lost 2-1 to neighbours Bahrain, and have a small pool of players — the country has a population of 2.9 million but only around 300,000 of those are Qataris.
“Qatar has a strict requirement that even if you are born in the country but your parents aren’t Qatari you have no rights to citizenship,” John McManus, social anthropologist and author of Inside Qatar, told BBC Sport.
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“Part of the reason for that is in order to keep the benefits that come with citizenship so generous – the 11% of Qatar nationals get free education, a well-paid job and lots of other big perks. More people getting citizenship would mean that would have to be spread out more.”
Qatar faces Ecuador in the opener on Sunday at Al Bayt Stadium.
The head-to-head record between the two nations is evenly-balanced at one win apiece and one draw, while both teams have scored six goals in those games too.
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QATAR VS. ECUADOR HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Qatar wins: 1
Ecuador wins: 1
Draws: 1
Qatar goals: 6
Ecuador goals: 6
MATCH HISTORY
October 12, 2018: Qatar 4-3 Ecuador (friendly)
February 25, 1996, Qatar 1-2 Ecuador (friendly)
February 18, 1996, Qatar 1-1 Ecuador (friendly)
