Qatar national under-20 football team

History

Formation

In response to the recently established World Youth Championship, Qatar established its national youth team in 1976. However, they were unable to qualify for the first two World Youth Championships in 1977 in Tunisia and in 1979 in Japan.

1981 World Youth Championship

In the 1980 AFC Youth Championship which was held in Thailand, the Qatar U20 team finished as runners-up after losing to South Korea in the final. This granted them a spot in the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship, which was hosted in Australia. Under the supervision of Brazilian coach Evaristo de Macedo, the championships proved to be a success. Facing Brazil in the quarter-finals, they were able to secure a 3–2 victory by utilizing the offside trap. They went on to face England in the semi-finals, where they earned a 2–1 victory after a fine performance by their goalkeeper.

The team finished second after losing 0–4 to West Germany in the final on a wet pitch which was unfavorable to the Qataris as they were not used to playing in such conditions. As a result of achieving runners-up position, each Qatari player received 100,000 Qatari riyals, a Mercedes Benz, and a bungalow. The population of Qataris was only 120,000 at the time of this achievement.

1995 World Youth Championship

Qatar earned its second international U-20 World Cup appearance in 1995 as hosts. While Nigeria was preparing to host the 1995 edition, an Ebola epidemic broke out in west Africa, and as a result, FIFA decided to award the hosting rights to Qatar with only twenty days remaining till the start of the championships.

2014 AFC U-19 Championship

Qatar's youth team won the AFC U-19 Championship for the first time in its history after defeating DPR Korea 1–0 in the final of the 2014 edition which took place in Myanmar. Advancing undefeated from a group which included DPR Korea and Iraq, they defeated China 4–2 in the quarter-finals, and earned a 3–2 victory after extra time against the hosts in the semi-finals. In the finals, the Qataris would be victorious against DPR Korea for a second time in the tournament, with super sub Akram Afif scoring the only goal of the match in the second half. The entire squad was composed of Aspire Academy students. As a result of Aspire's HOPE Project (Holistic Overseas Player Experience), most of the squad were European-based.

Competitive record

[[FIFA U-20 World Cup]]

[[AFC U-20 Asian Cup]]

Results and fixtures

2023

• Hazbavi
• Nguyễn Quốc Việt
• Nguyễn Văn Trường
• Al-Rawi
• El-Sayed
• Al-Ghareeb
• Donnell
• Borges-Rodrigues
• Oliveira
• Yull
• Popovic
• Goodwin
• Badolato

Managerial history

• Brazil Evaristo de Macedo (xx)
• Brazil José Faria (1979)
• Brazil Evaristo de Macedo (xx)
• Brazil João Francisco (1986)
• Brazil Edison de Souza (1987)
• Brazil Celso Roth (1991–92)
• Brazil Marcio Maximo (1994)
• Denmark Jørgen E. Larsen (1995)
• Argentina Alejandro Sabella (1995)
• Brazil José Paulo (1995–97)
• Brazil Marcelo Buarque (1997)
• Brazil José Paulo (1998)
• Qatar Obeid Jumaa (1998)
• Netherlands Ruud Doctor (2001–03)
• Netherlands Tiny Ruys (xx–2005)
• Italy Roberto Landi (2005–06)
• Netherlands Remco Boere (2007)
• Netherlands Tiny Ruys (xx–2011)
• Netherlands Marcel van Buuren (2011–2013)
• Spain Félix Sánchez (2013–2020)

References

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Qatar's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and AFC U-20 Asian Cup.

In [[FIFA U-20 World Cup]]

In [[AFC U-20 Asian Cup]]

References

1. "U20 Profile". Qatar Football Association.
2. (12 April 1984). "Mercedes, $15,000 and bungalow each is Qatar's way". Singapore Monitor.
3. (23 October 2014). "Qatar colts crowned Asian champions". dohastadiumplusqatar.com.
4. "CHAMP Magazine". Aspire.