Qatar national under-20 football team
The Qatar national under-20 football team is the national youth team of Qatar and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association. Qatar's U-20 national team played an important role in the development of football in Qatar and gave it one of its first shining moments on the global stage when the youth squad finished second in the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia.
| Association | Qatar Football Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Sub-confederation | WAFF (West Asia) | ||
| Home stadium | Khalifa International Stadium Jassim bin Hamad Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | QAT | ||
| |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Qatar 13–0  Bhutan(Doha, Qatar; 8 November 2007) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Qatar 1–9  Australia(Tashkent, Uzbekistan; 7 March 2023) | |||
| FIFA U-20 World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 1981) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (1981) | ||
| AFC U-19 Championship | |||
| Appearances | 14 (first in 1980) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2014) | ||
History
editFormation
editIn 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.[1]
1981 World Youth Championship
editIn 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.[1]
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.[1] 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.[2]
1995 World Youth Championship
editQatar 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.[1]
2014 AFC U-19 Championship
editQatar'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.[3] 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.[4]
Competitive record
editAFC U-19 Championship record
edit| Year | Result | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1980 |
Runners-up | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 1982 |
did not qualify | ||||||
 1985
| |||||||
 1986 |
Fourth place | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| 1988 |
Third place | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 |
 1990 |
Fourth place | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 1992 |
Round 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
| 1994 |
Round 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
 1996 |
Round 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 1998 |
Round 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
 2000 |
did not qualify | ||||||
| 2002 |
Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
 2004 |
Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
 2006 |
did not qualify | ||||||
| 2008
| |||||||
 2010
| |||||||
| 2012 |
Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
 2014 |
Champions | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6 |
 2016 |
Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2018 |
Semifinals | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 13 |
 2023 |
Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Total | 15/21 | 62 | 28 | 9 | 25 | 98 | 98 |
FIFA U-20 World Cup
edit| Host nation(s) / Year | Round |
|---|---|
 1977 to  1979 |
did not enter |
| 1981 |
Runners-up |
 1983 to 1993 |
did not enter |
| 1995 |
Group stage |
1997 to  2013 |
did not qualify |
 2015 |
Group stage |
| 2017 |
did not qualify |
 2019 |
Group stage |
 2023 |
did not qualify |
 2025 |
TBD |
- Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Results and fixtures
edit2023
edit| 23 February 2023 Friendly | Saudi Arabia | 2–1 | Qatar | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 17:00 (UTC+4) | Al-Zubaidi  3', 50' |
Report | 27' |
Stadium: The Sevens Stadium |
| 1 March 2023 2023 AFC U-20 GS | Qatar | 0–1 | Iran | Istiqlol Stadium, Fergana |
| 19:00 | Report | Attendance: 6,120 Referee: Kim Woo-sung (South Korea) |
| 4 March 2023 2023 AFC U-20 GS | Vietnam  | 2–1 | Qatar | Istiqlol Stadium, Fergana |
| 19:00 |
|
Report | Attendance: 1,024 Referee: Akhrol Risqullaev (Uzbekistan) |
| 7 March 2023 2023 AFC U-20 GS | Qatar | 1–9 | Australia | JAR Stadium, Tashkent |
| 15:00 |
|
Report |
|
Attendance: 123 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia) |
Managerial history
edit
Evaristo de Macedo (xx)- José Faria (1979)
- Evaristo de Macedo (xx)
- João Francisco (1986)
- Edison de Souza (1987)
- Celso Roth (1991–92)
- Marcio Maximo (1994)
Jørgen E. Larsen (1995)
Alejandro Sabella (1995)- José Paulo (1995–97)
- Marcelo Buarque (1997)
- José Paulo (1998)
Obeid Jumaa (1998)
Ruud Doctor (2001–03)- Tiny Ruys (xx–2005)
Roberto Landi (2005–06)- Remco Boere (2007)
- Tiny Ruys (xx–2011)
- Marcel van Buuren (2011–2013)
Félix Sánchez (2013–2020)
References
edit- ^ a b c d "U20 Profile". Qatar Football Association. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012.
- ^ "Mercedes, $15,000 and bungalow each is Qatar's way". Singapore Monitor. 12 April 1984. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ "Qatar colts crowned Asian champions". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "CHAMP Magazine". Aspire. p. 24. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2014.