How former Spain coach Julen Lopetegui rebuilt the Qatar national team from 2022 ruins

Shaken but ultimately fortunate against Switzerland in their opening match, the Asian champions have shown remarkable resilience. Between chaotic preparation and ruthless efficiency, discover the secrets of a team built to strike when least expected. A very clear warning for Canada.

A single number, highlighted by Julen Lopetegui himself, sums up his story with the World Cups: 2,920 days separated his dismissal from the Spanish national team and his return to a World Cup bench. In between, the Spaniard passed through Madrid, Seville, Wolverhampton, and London before landing in Doha.

On Saturday, June 13, in Santa Clara, his new project faced its first real test against Switzerland, and the scenario was almost ironically predictable: trailing after a penalty from Breel Embolo in the 17th minute, Qatar seemed headed for another defeat before snatching an equaliser in stoppage time thanks to a header from their captain Boualem Khoukhi.

The path that led Lopetegui to Qatar was anything but straightforward. Sacked by Spain 48 hours before their opening match at the 2018 World Cup, after news broke of his agreement with Real Madrid, he endured a failed stint in Madrid, then enjoyed success at Seville, highlighted by a Europa League victory in 2020. This was followed by spells at Wolverhampton and then West Ham, the London club parting ways with him on January 8, 2025, after results deemed insufficient.

4 Wins in 16 Matches, a disrupted preparation

Four months later, the Qatari federation handed him a team in the midst of a confidence crisis: they had just sacked Tintín Márquez after a 5-0 defeat to the United Arab Emirates, and his successor, Luis Garcia, failed to turn things around.

Worse still, without direct qualification, Qatar had to go through an unprecedented playoff format - a three-team mini-group with the Emirates and Oman, with all matches played on Qatari soil, to finally secure their very first sporting qualification for a World Cup, four years after participating in 2022 only as hosts.

Preparation was no easier. Lopetegui spoke of entire weeks without team training, due to Ramadan and then regional security issues, which also led to the cancellation of two friendlies against Argentina and Serbia. A warm-up defeat to Ireland didn’t help, and the coach’s record has been mixed since taking charge: only four wins in 16 official matches. Enough to temper ambitions, but not enough to make him doubt.

A team able to absorb pressure before striking

On the pitch, Lopetegui built his team around a 4-3-3 designed to showcase his two best attacking weapons, Akram Afif and Almoez Ali, the national team’s all-time top scorer with 55 goals.

But the real identity of this Qatar side is best seen in one statistic: 15 of their 37 goals during qualifying - 41% - came from set pieces. It’s the hallmark of a team that doesn’t need to dominate to be dangerous. The Spaniard even has a tactical double face: a mid-block that lets Afif operate on the wings and targets Almoez Ali in the box, or a higher press, specifically designed to wear down teams like Canada.

The real-life demonstration came against Switzerland. The Swiss finished with 69% possession and 25 shots, seven on target, with 3.15 xG compared to just 0.64 for Qatar.

Yet Lopetegui’s team held firm until that header from Khoukhi outjumped Swiss substitute Miro Muheim on a cross. After the match, the coach questioned the legitimacy of the penalty awarded to Switzerland, mentioning a possible offside earlier in the play, before praising his squad’s fighting spirit: "I am very proud of the players’ performance."

A team that offered almost nothing offensively but never broke mentally - a resilience project driven by Lopetegui.

Canada has been warned

On the pitch, everything revolves around Afif, whose form almost entirely determines Qatar’s hopes. Khoukhi, with over 100 caps, acts as a leader able to raise his voice in tense moments, as with his goal against Switzerland.

Almoez Ali, for his part, is still waiting to make a decisive impact at this World Cup. Around this trio, a structural peculiarity weighs in: 25 of the 26 Qatari players play in their domestic league. Only Homam Ahmed is based in Europe, on loan from Al-Duhail to Cultural Leonesa, a Qatari-owned club in Spain’s second division.

For Canada, heading into this second match with a point snatched in Toronto, the trap is now well known. Switzerland dominated Qatar in every aspect for over 90 minutes without ever putting the game to bed, and ended up punished on the Maroons’ only real chance in the 94th minute. A Canadian team already troubled by a corner against Bosnia and Herzegovina now knows what to expect: an opponent capable of absorbing pressure for an entire hour before striking on a single detail.