Doha: The unique experience of Spanish coaching was marked successfully with the Qatari national football team, demonstrating its competence, excellence, and ability to achieve historic accomplishments with Qatari football, the latest of which was qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
According to Qatar News Agency, Qatar secured qualification for the World Cup, which will be held next year in the US, Canada, and Mexico, after defeating the UAE 2-1 in the final round of Group A of the Asian play-offs.
Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui led the Qatari team to make history by successfully qualifying for the World Cup, adding a new chapter to Spain’s record of success with Qatari football.
Lopetegui took over the Qatari national team at the beginning of May, succeeding his compatriot, Luis Garcia. Despite the short period he spent in charge before the decisive matches, he was able to prepare the team in the necessary manner and gave the opportunity to many of them to participate in the starting lineup for the first time, despite the difficulty of the task. The team proved their worth and earned the coach’s trust, contributing together to successfully qualify for the World Cup. This secured Qatar’s second consecutive participation in the World Cup, and its first through the qualifiers after qualifying for the last FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as the host nation.
The Spanish coaching’s achievements with Qatari football are not a recent development, but extend over the past decade, which has witnessed the presence of Spanish coaches who have left a clear mark and achieved historic accomplishments with Qatar’s national teams.
Spain’s success with the Qatari national team began in gradual stages, beginning with coach Felix Sanchez, who successfully led Qatar to the 2014 AFC U-20 Championship title.
Sanchez joined Aspire Academy in 2006, coming from Barcelona’s renowned La Masia academy, to work on developing football in Qatar. In 2013, he took over as coach of the U-19 national team, and just one year after taking over, he succeeded in winning the AFC U-19 Championship, the team’s first continental title in this age group.
In line with Qatar’s vision, Sanchez assumed responsibility for the youth teams, both U-20 and U-23, until he was chosen in 2017 to take over the first team, the majority of which was composed of members of the generation he had coached in previous youth groups.
Just two years after taking charge of the national team, the Spanish coach led Qatar to win the AFC Asian Cup 2019 title in the UAE, marking the country’s first continental title in an unprecedented historic achievement. He then went on to become the first coach to lead Al-Annabi to its historic appearance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
After a period during which Portuguese Carlos Queiroz took over as coach of the national team, Qatar returned to the Spanish footballing sphere with the appointment of Bartolome Marquez Lopez as coach shortly before the start of the 2023 Asian Cup in Doha. Lopez lived up to expectations, continuing the journey of achievements after successfully defending the title, leading Al-Annabi to win the continental cup for the second time in a row, which was also a historic achievement.
Spain’s successes with the Qatari national team continued when Julen Lopetegui led the Qatari national team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026, a historic achievement as it marked the first time the Qatari national team had qualified for the World Cup through the qualifiers.
The Spanish coaching’s unique achievements confirm its outstanding success with Qatari football, writing a distinguished history, and its aspirations for further success.