Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui has called on his players to embrace the toughest challenge in the nation’s football history with courage, realism and belief as Al Annabi prepare for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The global football showpiece will be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. Qatar are drawn in Group B, and will open their campaign against Switzerland in San Francisco on June 13 before facing Canada in Vancouver on June 18. Their final group-stage match will be against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle on June 24. Appointed in May 2025, Lopetegui guided Qatar through a tense playoff campaign against Oman and the UAE. After a goalless draw with Oman, Qatar defeated the UAE 2-1 in Doha last October, with goals from Boualem Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel sealing a historic qualification for the World Cup through the qualifiers for the first time in the nation’s history. Qatar had made its World Cup debut in 2022, which it hosted. Speaking in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Lopetegui acknowledged the scale of the challenge awaiting the two-time Asian champions but insisted his side must confront it head-on. “This is the reality that we have to face, and we cannot change it, so we have to accept the fact that we will play against Switzerland first, and we have to be ready to do our best against a very strong team,” Lopetegui said. “Switzerland is perhaps one of the most balanced teams in Europe over the last eight years. They have the same coach, and they have outstanding players who play in the best leagues in the world, such as the Champions League, the English Premier League, the Italian League, and the Spanish League; therefore, we have to be ready to face them.” The former Spain and Real Madrid coach warned that the challenge would not ease after the opening game. He described Canada as another highly competitive side packed with players competing at the highest European level, while stressing that Bosnia and Herzegovina had already proven their credentials by qualifying at the expense of Italy. “We realize that we are playing against teams of another level, and at the same time we know our real reality, and that the competitors are better than us, but this does not mean surrendering, but rather knowing what awaits us and what it requires us to be ready in order to achieve our ambition and dream of being a strong contender, and to prove our worthiness to be in the World Cup, in an opportunity that no one gave us, but rather we obtained it with our merit, which makes us believe in our abilities and aware of the strength of our competitors,” the 59-year-old said. Lopetegui revealed that Qatar’s preparations are focused not only on opponents, but also on adapting to unfamiliar match conditions, including morning kick-offs during the tournament. “The technical staff is working on changing many things until the date of the first match in the World Cup,” he said, adding that every available day is being used to ensure the players reach peak readiness. Qatar began their preparations immediately after the end of the domestic season, with Lopetegui praising the competitive nature of the campaign and its benefit to national team players. “It was a good season in light of strong competition that benefited the national team players and certainly contributed to developing their level,” he said. “The most important thing for us was that the local players get the largest possible number of minutes, because sometimes there are not many local players in one team. I hope that most teams will include the largest possible number of Qatari players, and that they will get enough playing opportunities, and that they will compete for a sufficient number of minutes.” The Spaniard admitted injuries remain his greatest concern as Qatar continue preparations with an extended preliminary squad. “What concerns us now is reducing injuries as much as possible, and we hope to avoid them, as there is no time to recover in the event of any injury; therefore, we feel some concern and look forward to reaching full readiness before playing our first game,” he said. Lopetegui explained that the selection policy during the past year had been carefully managed with the World Cup in mind, especially regarding experienced players aged between 34 and 36. “For this reason, the choices were different in the Arab Cup, based on the need to achieve balance in the team, as it was necessary to take care of these players and think about reaching the decisive moment, which is the World Cup, in the best possible way, so that everyone is fully prepared, and they finish the season in the best possible way, to be ready for the big match that awaits them in June,” he said. Lopetegui is currently working with a 34-man group before the final squad is selected. “We are currently working with a group of approximately 34 players, who are usually familiar to us, and we will select a final list of players who we believe are capable of helping us achieve our goal of competing strongly in the World Cup." he said. “We certainly need to understand which players are better than others physically, as there are players who are injured or have been out of action for many weeks; therefore, we have to take such matters into consideration in order to finalize our list.” Lopetegui also reflected on the disruption caused by the cancellation of the Qatar Football Festival in March, which had included planned friendlies against world champions Argentina and Serbia. “Everyone in the region suffered during that period, and we had to cancel two very important matches that would have been a great test for us,” he said. “However, we changed our approach and held a 10-day training camp, during which we conducted high-quality training sessions that benefited us, as the players had been away from their daily training with their clubs for 15 days. In the end, we overcame the situation and are now looking ahead to the next period, which we will enter by playing three friendly matches before the World Cup: against Sudan in Doha tomorrow, then Ireland in Dublin, and finally El Salvador in Los Angeles, USA.” The coach pointed to previous setbacks during preparation campaigns as valuable learning experiences, citing the heavy friendly defeat against Russia last September before Qatar recovered impressively in the decisive qualifying playoffs against Oman and the UAE. According to Lopetegui, qualification itself marked the beginning of a “new page” in preparations, with the technical staff closely monitoring players in domestic and continental competitions before the latest training camp opened on May 12. While much attention has focused on star duo Akram Afif and Almoez Ali, Lopetegui stressed that Qatar’s hopes will depend on collective strength rather than individuals. “I don't like to talk about individual names, as it is about the team as a whole. Our strength does not lie in one name, but in our ability to do our best as a team. We are talking about strong opponents in the World Cup, so we must focus on our work as a group,” he said. The coach nevertheless provided an update on Almoez Ali’s difficult recovery from injury. “Almoez Ali, unfortunately, has not played more than two matches throughout this year, and he played one match with us last October because he suffered an injury and underwent surgery after our training camp last summer, and he was absent during the pre-season period until October, then he played his first match with the national team for 45 minutes, before suffering another injury and undergoing a second surgery, and being absent again before returning recently. “Therefore, I think that he played two or two and a half matches at most, which is not enough to maintain the required rhythm, and the matter here is not about being prepared or not, but rather about having the rhythm that this competition requires, and I hope that he will improve gradually. As for Akram, he is an influential player, and fortunately he is in top form and participates a lot with his team, and this is good for him and for us.” Qatar’s current training camp includes friendlies against Sudan in Doha tomorrow and Ireland in Dublin on May 28 before the squad heads to the United States for a final warm-up match against El Salvador in Los Angeles on June 6. Lopetegui also spoke emotionally about what the World Cup means for Qatar, saying he feels a deep sense of belonging and responsibility after guiding the country to qualification for the first time through the Asian qualifiers. The Spaniard said Qatari fans should already feel immense pride at reaching the tournament on merit after previously appearing as hosts at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. He added that the players’ dream now is to compete with courage and dignity on football’s biggest stage. “They have another dream, which is to appear in a strong competitive manner, and to show fighting spirit, determination and perseverance in order to hold on to the chances and present an honorable participation,” Lopetegui said. Related Story
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