Qatar 26 World Cup Preview

Who is the best Men's team from Asia? Japan, Korea Republic, Iran? Australia off of a knockout appearance in 2022? Saudi Arabia on a good day?

They should have, like, some kind of tournament to help define this. An Asian Cup, if you will.

What's that? One team has one both of them since 2019?

That's right, Qatar went back to back to claim the continental crown. Yet they limped into this World Cup via a late stage qualification round that they were gifted hosting rights to.

Speaking of gifts, the last World Cup they hosted was a complete flop as well. Qatar are an enigma. For the past 8 years, they have been phenomenal in any AFC competition. For the past 4 years, they have struggled massively in any World Cup competition.

The 2024 Asian Cup was at Home, sure, but their fans were literally banned from attending the 2019 edition & they still won. Thus Qatar enter 2026 with more to prove than the average team, I would argue. The average fan's perception of them is skewed heavily & they should be eager to finally meet the moment, show it to everybody that has been writing them off.

Julen Lopetegui is now at the helm, which only adds to the strange-ness of this team. A former Spain manager is taking over one of the biggest minnows of the tournament; his experience in 2018 & 2026 will be hilariously different. Expect him at his most pragmatic, knowing these players. Qatar are a more conservative side in the World let alone Asia who have a couple of very good players & build the team around those guys. Numbers behind the ball, look to start a counterattack & let the match-winners do their thing.

The first player named in any Qatar preview should be Akram Afif, so here's me checking that box just to say that we'll be saving him for later - Mr. Brightside really wanted to take that one.

So we'll start with the Robin to Afif's Batman, Almoez Ali - a complete 9 who is elite in Asia. Qatar have tried damn near every formation in the past few years, but Almoez Ali is the constant forward in all of them. His raw goal counts are tremendous, but his back-to-goal stuff can be really underrated. Their favorite pattern to attack in, on the counter, starts with Almoez as their highest player checking in to receive the ball. In the process, a centerback usually follows him leaving room for the biggest threat, Afif, for Almoez to find with a runway to goal in behind. If the execution gets Afif a clear shot, he'll take it, but if not for whatever reason then you'll see Almoez making a great run off of him to get a secondary chance. The two could have a claim to be the most thrilling duo at the World Cup - their understanding & combinations are that damn good:

After those two guys, however, the drop off is pretty large - I don't think any other attackers could do a job worthy of accomplishing the same feats that Qatar have the past 7 years. When it comes to their attacking contributors, the other 2 players who come to my mind are actually ball-playing defenders: centerback Lucas Mendes & right back turned centerback Pedro Miguel. The former especially can drop a dime from 40 yards to either main attacker.

That sort of covers a lot of how they prefer to play - direct, entirely bypassing their own midfield in possession often. And it's a formula that has them holding 2 continental trophies in a row.

You'd expect a midfield with minimal attacking role have to be decent enough defensively, right? Not the case here. For me, Qatar have the worst defensive midfield unit of the entire field. Completely toothless group of players who regularly get walked around on their goals. The midfield is the most important area on the field & any combination Qatar send out there are basically just bodies that do a disappointing job of just being bodies.

The back line isn't great, but when they are getting 0 help from their shields in front then I won't be too hard on them. Another odd little thing Lopetegui has been toying with is the starting goalkeeper job, which I personally don't think ever should have left Barsham's grasp despite a rough patch he hit in early 2025.

It's not their biggest concern but it isn't an area they feel comfortable with either.

If you introduced an alien to soccer, had them only watch international intra-continental men's games & asked them who they think the best player in the world would be... there is a very real chance our alien friend would say Akram Afif. Akram Afif is their biggest hope.

The guy is fucking unbelievable. "Magician" is the word that always crosses my mind when watching him play. He's a pacy player that's deadly on the counterattack, but even against set defenses he'll get his foot on the ball & pull off a crazy ass individual goal:

He was the guy carrying them to those Asian Cup titles as well. He's been the AFC men's player of the year in 2019 & 2023 while he took home both the Golden Ball & Golden Boot in the last Asian Cup.

Please just go watch this guy if you haven't seen him. Dude is ELECTRIC.

And that's the best case scenario I can give to this team: Afif going supernova to win them games on his own with a little help from Almoez.

The pair didn't make waves in 2022 despite having similar amounts of hype, though, so maybe the stage just isn't for them?

They're one of the weirdest teams on the planet who seem to live & die off of their 2 dominant attackers. I could shred their midfield forever, but even then - they were no better in 2019 & 2024 when they lifted those Asian Cups.

Your pick if Dr. Jeckyll or Mr. Hyde shows up.

They're probably getting grouped in my final bracket. The defensive unit is feeble enough to get put in a really bad spot on goal difference & I can give them at chance at 3 points maximum against Bosnia & Herzegovina, but any more is reaching.

For what it's worth, I hope they can make that statement win just to have the average fan take them more seriously. I despise the federation & their involvement in the worst parts of the game... but I really like Afif & Almoez, so I find myself rooting for them to get a feelgood win.