Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Squad

Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Squad

Head Coach: Tintín Márquez

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth/Age	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Saad Al-Sheeb	19 February 1990 (age 33)	86	0	Al-Sadd
	GK	Meshaal Barsham	14 February 1998 (age 25)	34	0	Al-Sadd
	GK	Salah Zakaria	24 April 1999 (age 24)	5	0	Al-Duhail
	DF	Boualem Khoukhi	9 July 1990 (age 33)	113	21	Al-Sadd
	DF	Ro-Ro	6 August 1990 (age 33)	90	1	Al-Sadd
	DF	Tarek Salman	5 December 1997 (age 26)	73	0	Al-Sadd
	DF	Bassam Al-Rawi	16 December 1997 (age 26)	70	2	Al-Rayyan
	DF	Al-Mahdi Ali Mukhtar	2 March 1992 (age 31)	58	3	Al-Wakrah
	DF	Homam Ahmed	25 August 1999 (age 24)	51	3	Al-Gharafa
	DF	Sultan Al-Brake	7 April 1996 (age 27)	6	0	Al-Duhail
	DF	Lucas Mendes	3 July 1990 (age 33)	2	0	Al-Wakrah
	MF	Hassan Al-Haydos (captain)	11 December 1990 (age 33)	176	39	Al-Sadd
	MF	Abdulaziz Hatem	28 October 1990 (age 33)	112	11	Al-Rayyan
	MF	Ali Assadalla	19 January 1993 (age 30)	72	12	Al-Sadd
	MF	Mohammed Waad	18 September 1999 (age 24)	37	0	Al-Sadd
	MF	Ahmed Fatehi	25 January 1993 (age 30)	24	0	Al-Arabi
	MF	Mostafa Meshaal	28 March 2001 (age 22)	15	2	Al-Sadd
	MF	Jassem Gaber	20 February 2002 (age 21)	13	0	Al-Arabi
	MF	Khaled Mohammed	7 June 2000 (age 23)	2	0	Al-Duhail
	FW	Almoez Ali	19 August 1996 (age 27)	103	50	Al-Duhail
	FW	Akram Afif	11 March 1996 (age 27)	101	26	Al-Sadd
	FW	Ismaeel Mohammad	5 April 1990 (age 33)	77	4	Al-Duhail
	FW	Ahmed Alaaeldin	31 January 1993 (age 30)	62	5	Al-Gharafa
	FW	Yusuf Abdurisag	6 August 1999 (age 24)	27	3	Al-Sadd
	FW	Khalid Muneer	24 February 1998 (age 25)	9	1	Al-Wakrah
	FW	Ahmed Al Ganehi	22 September 2000 (age 23)	0	0	Al-Gharafa

Most Capped Player: Hassan Al-Haydos – 176
Top Goalscorer: Almoez Ali – 50

Qatar 2023 Asian Cup Preview

Reigning AFC Asian Cup champions Qatar are back in continental tournament action this month, and like they did for the World Cup back in the winter of 2022 – they have the hosting rights once again.

China were initially due to host the competition, however they were forced to relinquish their hosting rights due to their ‘Zero-COVID policy’. Qatar, along with Australia, Indonesia and South Korea submitted bids to host in China’s place, and on 17 October, the AFC announced that Qatar won the bid and would host the tournament.

The 2023 edition of the tournament will become the Qataris’ 11th appearance at the finals, as they bid to defend their title after lifting the trophy for the first time in the United Arab Emirates back in 2019.

They have been drawn into Group A as top seeds, and get their campaign underway against Lebanon in Lusail on 12 January. They then head to Al Khor to face tournament debutants Tajikistan on 17 January, before rounding off their group stage action against China in Al Rayyan on 22 January.

Qatar Player To Watch

At just 27 years of age, Almoez Ali is Qatar’s all-time leading goalscorer with an impressive 50 goals in 103 caps. The Sudan-born striker is one of the first names on the teamsheet for Márquez’s side, and typically leads the line or plays on the wing.

Ali won the Qatar Stars League with Al-Duhail last term, registering just four goals and four assists, but he has already surpassed that tally this season by scoring five and assisting eight in 18 appearances.

His record at international level though, is much more impressive. In his last four appearances for his country, he has scored an incredible eight goals. This includes four against Afghanistan in World Cup qualifying, as well as a hat-trick against Cambodia in an international friendly on New Year’s Eve.

Not only that, but Ali also ended the successful 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign as top goalscorer with nine goals in seven matches, scoring in both the semi-final and the final – seeing him named as the tournament’s best player.

If there is any hope of Qatar defending their title in front of their home fans, Ali will undoubtedly play a key role in that, hence why we at SportsLens have identified the forward as the nation’s player to watch.