Lopetegui Announces Qatar Squad For Austria Training Camp

2025-07-02 11:02:12

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui has announced the Qatar national football team's squad for the upcoming training camp in Austria, scheduled from July 11-27.
The camp is held as part of preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers play off, which will be co-hosted by Qatar and Saudi Arabia and will be held in a centralised format from October 8-14, 2025.
Al Sadd midfielder Guilherme Torres has received his first call-up to Qatar, while as announced on Monday veteran forward Hassan al-Haydos makes a surprise return following his retirement from international football earlier this year. The 33-year-old, Qatar's most capped player with 183 appearances and 41 goals, was included at the request of Lopetegui.
Al-Haydos, a two-time AFC Asian Cup winner (2019 and 2023), recently renewed his contract with Qatar Stars League champions Al Sadd and has continued to contribute at club level. Several changes were made from the squad that faced Iran and Uzbekistan in May. Goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb was omitted, while Marwan Sharif and Shehab al-Laithi were brought in. Al Duhail defender Youssef Ayman and Al Sadd's Abdullah al-Yazidi were also included in the defensive ranks.
As part of the camp, Al Annabi will play two international friendly matches. Qatar missed out on direct qualification for World Cup after finishing fourth in Group A during the third round of the Asian qualifiers, but managed to secure a spot in the play-offs.
A total of six teams - Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE, Oman, and Indonesia - will compete in the play-off.
These teams will be divided into two groups of three, with each group playing in a round-robin format. The group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup. The second-placed teams from each group will face off in a two-legged playoff on November 13 and 18, 2025.
The winner will then advance to the intercontinental play-off. The official draw for the Asian play-off will be held on July 17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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