QFA President, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani meeting Qatar U-20 players during a training session in the build up to FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Qatar will be aiming to deliver a better performance than they did four years ago at the FIFA U-20 World Cup that begins in Poland tomorrow.
Coached by Portuguese manager Bruno Miguel, Qatar have arrived in Poland to face Nigeria, Ukraine and the US in their Group D clashes at the 24-team tournament.
Qatar are set to make their fourth FIFA U-20 World Cup appearance. The Qatari juniors will start their campaign with a match against African giants Nigeria on May 24.
Qatar face Ukraine on May 27 followed by their clash against the US on May 30. All matches will be played in Tychy.
How Qatari young guns qualified
After losing their opening 2018 AFC U-19 Championship game to the United Arab Emirates, successive wins over host nation Indonesia and Chinese Taipei saw Qatar finish on top of Group A by the narrowest of margins. A 7-3 extra-time defeat of Thailand duly followed in the quarter-finals, before Qatar succumbed 3-1 to eventual runners-up Korea Republic in the last four.
After seeing him excel at the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship, Qatar will be looking for a repeat performance from striker Abdulrasheed Umaru. The Al Ahli forward found the net seven times in Indonesia to land the Top Scorer award, two ahead of team-mate Hashim Ali who is also set to appear in Poland.
Highly regarded defender Nasir Baksh is once again expected to lead his country having captained Qatar in Indonesia.
Poland 2019 will be Qatar’s fourth FIFA U-20 World Cup appearance after making their tournament debut in 1981 when they lost 4-0 in the final to West Germany. They went on to host the competition’s 1996 edition but subsequently failed to reach the knockout phase – a fate which also befell the West Asians when they finished bottom of Group C at New Zealand 2015.
On Monday, QFA President, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani met with the players and the team staff to offer support. The Qatar squad just recently concluded training camps in Slovakia and France before arriving in Poland.
