Lopetegui names Qatar squad for friendlies vs Russia and Bahrain

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August 31, 2025
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31-August-2025

Lopetegui names Qatar squad for friendlies vs Russia and Bahrain

DOHA - Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui has announced the squad for the two friendly matches against Russia and Bahrain, as part of preparations for the fourth round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Qatar will face Bahrain on September 3 at Al Thumama Stadium, before taking on Russia on September 7 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium. These matches continue the team’s preparation programme, which started with an abroad training camp in Austria last July.

The squad saw little change from the one announced by Lopetegui in early July, except for the absence of captain Hassan Al Haydos and striker Almoez Ali due to injury.

The Spanish coach recalled several names, including Al Rayyan goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada, Al Duhail defender Sultan al-Braik, and Al Wakrah defender Almahdi Ali, while excluding goalkeepers Marwan Sharif and Shehab Ellethy.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had held the draw for the fourth round (continental playoff), which will be hosted in Doha, placing Qatar in Group A alongside the UAE and Oman.

Qatar will begin their playoff campaign against Oman on October 8, before meeting the UAE on October 14, while Oman will face the UAE on October 11. Group B will be held in Saudi Arabia and includes the host nation along with Iraq and Indonesia.

Qatar, the reigning two-time AFC Asian Cup champions, reached the playoff after finishing fourth in the third round with 13 points from 10 matches, behind Iran (23 points), Uzbekistan (21 points), and the UAE (15 points). Kyrgyzstan finished fifth with eight points, and North Korea sixth with three points.

Qatar squad: Mahmoud Abunada, Meshaal Barsham, Salah Zakaria (goalkeepers), Abdulaziz Hatem, Ahmed Al Rawi, Ahmed Alaa, Ahmed Al Ganehi, Ahmed Fathy, Ahmed Suhail, Akram Afif, Almahdi Ali, Assim Madibo, Bassam Al Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Edmilson Junior, Guilherme Torres, Homam Al Amin, Ismail Mohammed, Jassim Jaber, Karim Boudiaf, Mohammed Mannai, Mohamed Khalid, Mohammed Muntari, Pedro Miguel, Sultan Al Brake, Tarek Salman.

Meanwhile Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic has called up under-17 player Hussain Zuhair and Al Ahli Club’s Sayed Mahdi Sharaf in the squad.

Zuhair and Sharaf join a formidable Bahrain roster that already includes Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Ahmed Dhiya, Sayed Mahmoud al-Mosawi, Ahmed Bughammar, Hamad Shamsan, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Hussain Al Eker, Vincent Emmanuel, Hazza Ali, Hussain Jameel, Mahdi Humaidan, Ali Madan, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Omar Saber, Jassim Al Shaikh, Komail Al Aswad, Abdulla Al Subaie, Hussain Abdulkarim, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Ebrahim Al Khattal, and goalkeepers Ebrahim Luthfallah, Mohammed Al Gharably, Abdulkarim Al Fardan and Yousef Habib.