Qatar REALLY Sucks (at Soccer)

I really don't like admitting that I'm wrong, but today I have to eat the sh!t sandwich.

In 2024, I defiantly proclaimed that Qatar would never qualify for another World Cup in my lifetime.

Shockingly, Qatar slipped into the 8th of (possibly) 9 qualifying spots this weekend.

2026 Qualifiers from Asia?

• Japan

• South Korea

• Iran

• Australia

• Saudi Arabia

All five of those countries are perennial soccer stalwarts, each having qualified for, at least, 6 World Cups.

• Uzbekistan

• Jordan

Both countries will debut in 2026.

• Qatar

In the last game of guaranteed qualifying, Qatar beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1. If Qatar had lost to the UAE, my prediction would have been intact.

But as I glanced through the leading scorer list, it didn't take long to reignite my anger. The leading scorer in the qualifiers was Qatar's Almoez Ali.

Hmm, how do I say this without sounding prejudice?

Almoez Ali

Almoez doesn't look Middle Eastern.

Lo and behold, he's not. Born in Sudan, ironically, back in 2020, the UAE contested Ali's eligibility citing Qatar's own citizenship laws. According to AI: "Acquiring Qatari citizenship is very difficult and strictly regulated, typically requiring at least 25 years of continuous legal residency, a lawful income, good conduct, and fluency in Arabic. Citizenship is often granted in exceptional cases to those who have made significant contributions to the country, have specific skills in demand, or have a Qatari mother. Children born to a Qatari mother and a foreign father can only apply under strict conditions, and dual nationality is not permitted."

Qatar would argue that other countries skirt citizen requirements for top level soccer talent.

From Africa10: "SONS OF AFRICA REPRESENTING QATAR IN THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2022, QATAR"  

1. Almoez Ali | Forward

Almoez Ali Zainalabedeen Mohamed Abdulla born 19 August 1996 is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar Stars League side Al-Duhail, whom he captains.

AFRICAN ROOTS -Ali was born in Sudan and moved to Qatar as a child. His mother is a native Sudanese

2. Mohammed Muntari | Striker

Mohammed Muntari (born 20 December 1993) is a Ghanaian-born naturalised Qatari footballer who currently plays for Al-Duhail as a striker.

AFRICAN ROOTS -Muntari was born and raised in Ghana, but early in his career moved to Qatar and became a naturalized citizen. He was called up to the Qatar national team in December 2014.

3. Meshaal Barsham | Goalkeeper

Meshaal Aissa Barsham (born 14 February 1998) is a Qatari football player of Sudanese descent who plays as a goalkeeper for Al Sadd and for the Qatar national football team.

All 3 were still on the roster when Qatar played the UAE this week.

Let's start again.

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One of my favorite players for the United States this World Cup cycle is Diego Luna. Luna could have played for either Mexico or the USMNT due to his heritage. There is a very competitive battle, especially for Hispanic Players, in America's Southwest. That's not what's going on Qatar.

Chicago proper has the same population as Qatar and if you assembled a team of the best players in the Chicago Metroplex, I would take that team over Qatar.

But surprisingly, Qatar's Stars League is about as competitive as China's CSL.

Here are a few countries that didn't qualify:

Indonesia, population 280 million.

India, population 1.45 billion.

China, population 1.4 billion--

Let's stop right there. I would bet my house that the best 11 soccer players in China are better than the best 11 soccer players in Qatar.

Xi Jinping should scrape and re-build his entire soccer program. Whatever they're doing in China isn't working.

You argue that my logic is backwards, Qatar is a success story?

You're kicked out of the blog!

That's it, we're doubling down.

In 2022, we correctly predicted that Qatar would come in last in their own tournament. I predicted the worst showing in history for a host nation and I was right, they came in 32nd out of 32 teams. Dead Last! That what they get for bribing their way into the tournament.

Today, October 25, 2025, I predict that Qatar will come in 47th out of an expanded 48 team field! Who will come in 48th? Cape Verde. I didn't know it was a country in Africa until today, I didn't know they had a soccer team until 10 minutes ago....

Wait, no, I take that back. A team that I never heard of, from a country that I never heard of will do better than Qatar in 2026. I revise my prediction, Qatar will again come in dead last, 48th out of 48.

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