FIFA Men's World Cup

World Cup 2022 Group A Team Guides: Qatar

Updated Nov. 17, 2022 11:43 a.m. ET

Group A of the World Cup is a fascinating quartet in every way. Host Qatar and Ecuador square off Nov. 20 to open the tournament. Senegal, the African champion, has its best team ever, while the Netherlands is looking to make yet another deep run after missing out on 2018.

Here is everything to know about Qatar:

Coach: Félix Sánchez

Highest finish: This is Qatar’s World Cup debut

2018 finish: Didn’t qualify

FOX Bet odds: +50000

Key players: Almoez Ali, Abdelkarim Hassan, Hassan Al-Haydos

What we’re excited to watch: With the entire roster based in the Qatari league and employed across just a handful of clubs, the hosts should be one of the most cohesive teams in the tournament.

What success looks like: Surviving the group stage. Every previous World Cup host, with the exception of South Africa in 2010, has advanced to the tournament’s knockout phase.

Achilles' heel: Inexperience.

X-Factor: Their counterattack. With Ali, Al-Haydos and Akram Afif, Qatar is deadly in transition moments.

Three Things You Need To Know About Qatar

Alexi Lalas breaks down three things we need to know about Qatar.

Full roster

Goalkeepers: Saad Al-Sheeb, Meshaal Barsham, Yousef Hassan

Defenders: Pedro Miguel, Musaab Khidir, Tarek Salman, Bassam Al-Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan, Homam Ahmed, Jassem Gaber

Midfielders: Ali Asad, Assim Madabo, Mohammed Waad, Salem Al-Hajri, Moustafa Tarek, Karim Boudiaf, Abdelaziz Hatim, Ismail Mohamad

Forwards: Naif Al-Hadhrami, Ahmed Alaaeldin, Hassan Al-Haydos, Khalid Muneer, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, Mohamed Muntari

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Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.