The national team of Qatar football has fared from its first match in 1970 to participate in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. But November 20 will be a red letter day for Qatari football because its men’s football team will make its World Cup debut as hosts of the tournament and will play its first match of world cup 2022 against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium. In recent years the Maroon has been on an upward trajectory.
We will share a timeline of the involvement of the journey of Qatari football and how it has established itself in the Asian football pyramid.
1960- The Qatar Football association comes into being after three years of becoming an official FIFA member.
1970 to 1977
1970 – The National team of Qatar plays its first match, losing 2-1 against Bahrain in the biennial Gulf Cup.
1972 – Qatar Football league is launched by the Qatar Football Association this year.
1974 – Talking about the first match, Qatar wins an international game in which she plays against Oman, which results in the victory of Qatar with 4-0. It is the second group game of the Gulf Cup.
1975 – If we talk about Asian Cup qualifiers, she fails to qualify for the tournament.
1977- The Maroon manages to win its debut match against Bahrain for world cup qualifiers, finishes third but fails to step out of the group.
1980 to 1990
1980 – Qatar manages its first appearance in the Asia Cup after being managed by former Barcelona and Brazil winger Evaristo.
1984 – After 14 years, Qatar plays its final for the Gulf Cup but loses to Iraq 4-3 on penalties.
1990 to 2000
1992 – This year, Qatar gives exceptional performance. She wins against Egypt and draws against Colombia to qualify for the summer Olympics. It wins its first-ever Gulf Cup by winning four of its five games in the tournament.
1997 – Qatar loses its chance to qualify for the 1998 world cup. However, it reaches the final round of qualification but misses the chance after losing to Saudi Arabia.
2000 to 2010
2004 – Being a host this year, The Maroon wins the Second Gulf Cup.
2006 – The Maroon wins against Iraq in the Asian Games final, leading to lifting the gold.
2010 to 2021
2104 – For Qatar, it is a seminal year because it loses only one match during the whole year and wins both West Asia Football Federation and Gulf Cup Championships.
2019- In CONCACAF Gold Cup for 2021, Qatar makes it to the semi-final at the end before losing to the USA hosts, with a scoreboard of 1-0 on the final whistle.
Conclusion
It has been evident that Qatar has made progress in football tournaments by winning multiple titles. This year Qatar is hosting the world cup. People from different countries are happy and moving to Qatar to buck up with their favorite teams and players. It is estimated Qatar will attract mass tourism.
