Qatar national under-23 football team

Qatar Under-23

Nickname(s)	Annabi (The Maroon)
Association	Qatar Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Julio César Moreno
Home stadium	Khalifa International Stadium, Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
FIFA code	QAT
First colours Second colours
Asian Games
Appearances	3 (first in 2002)
Best result	Winners (2006)

Qatar national under-23 football team (also known as Qatar Under-23 or Qatar Olympics Team) represents Qatar in international football competitions in Gulf Cup of Nations Under 23 and Football at the Summer Olympics, as well as any other under-23 international football tournaments.

History

Compared to regional neighbors; Qatar has a decent record to show for in Olympic football, with two prior Summer Olympics qualifications and a gold medal in the 2006 Asian games.

Qatar’s first attempt to compete in the Olympic level proved fruitful, they cruised past Jordan and Syria in the preliminary stages of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, then finished atop of Group B in the final qualifications round after beating Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and Iraq.

Qatar’s Olympic debut under Brazilian legend Evaristo de Macedo came as stunning as it gets, a 2-2 draw with a Platini captained France (who went on to claim the gold medal eventually), sent ripples of shock across the football world, however; suffering two defeats to Chile and Norway deprived the first timers of a last 16 berth.

Eight years later, a new young squad dominated its qualifying campaign on the expense of Japan, China and Saudi Arabia, in the finals; the Qataris were given a tough draw next to hosing nation Spain, Colombia and Egypt. Qatar kicked off their matches at Barcelona with a crucial 1-0 win over fellow Arab nation Egypt, before registering a 1-1 draw with Colombia to secure a place in the knockout stage, turning the last group match against Spain into a formality.

A loss to Poland in the second stage fell a little bit short of rising expectations, but reaching the second stage led to the country’s best Olympic result.

When hosting the 2006 Asian Games, Qatar found itself with a double objective; to show that it was capable of hosting a major event of that caliber, and demonstrate that its football team was worthy of standing alongside Asia’s elite.

Undefeated throughout the whole tournament; Qatar’s momentum escalated from one match to another, reaching its peak in the 2-0 final against Iraq.

Tournament records

Summer Olympics

Since 1992, football at the Summer Olympics changes into Under-23 tournament.

Olympics Record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1992	Quarter-finals	-	4	1	1	2	2	5
1996	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2012	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

U-22 Asian Cup

AFC U-22 Asian Cup Record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2013	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Asian Games

Since 2002, football at the Asian Games changes into Under-23 tournament.

Asian Games Record
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2002	Group stage	3	1	2	0	13	2
2006	Champions	6	5	0	1	13	2
2010	Round of 16	4	2	1	1	4	2
2014	To be determined	-	-	-	-	-	-

Gulf Cup of Nations

Gulf Cup of Nations Under 23 Record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2008	Final group	3rd	4	1	2	1	8	5
2010	Semi-finals	4th	4	0	2	2	2	6
2011	Semi-finals	4th	4	1	0	3	3	9

Current squad

Head coach: Marcel Van Buuren

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	1GK	Salam Fawaz	(1991-01-10) 10 January 1991		Qatar SC
18	1GK	Ahmed Soufiane	(1990-08-09) 9 August 1990		Al Wakrah
22	1GK	Muhannad Naim	(1993-01-28) 28 January 1993	4	Eupen
4	2DF	Almahdi Ali Mukhtari	(1992-03-02) 2 March 1992		Al Sadd
3	2DF	Abdul Ghafoor Murad	(1989-03-12) 12 March 1989		Al Rayyan
5	2DF	Mohammed Al Rabeei	(1990-04-29) 29 April 1990		Qatar SC
7	2DF	Khalid Muftah	(1992-06-02) 2 June 1992		Lekhwiya
17	2DF	Nasser Nabeel	(1990-02-11) 11 February 1990		Al Sadd
6	3MF	Abdulaziz Hatem	(1985-01-01) 1 January 1985		Al Arabi
8	3MF	Nasser Khalfan	(1993-10-17) 17 October 1993		Al Arabi
12	3MF	Abdulla Afifa	(1991-05-04) 4 May 1991		Al Rayyan
16	3MF	Saleh Al Yazidi	(1993-02-10) 10 February 1993		Al Sadd
9	4FW	Muayed Hassan Fadli	(1992-01-28) 28 January 1992		Al Gharafa
10	4FW	Hassan Al Haidos (Captain)	(1990-12-11) 11 December 1990		Al Sadd
11	4FW	Mohammed Elneel	(1991-01-01) 1 January 1991		Al Rayyan
13	4FW	Ahmed Alaaeldin	(1993-01-31) 31 January 1993		Al Rayyan
14	4FW	Fahad Khalfan	(1992-03-23) 23 March 1992		Al Rayyan

Former managers

Period	Manager
1999–2000	José Paulo
2007	Hassan Hormatallah
2011–2012	Paulo Autuori
2012–2013	Alain Perrin
2013	Marcel Van Buuren
2013–	Julio César Moreno

See also

• Qatar national football team
• Qatar national under-20 football team
• Qatar national under-17 football team