What's your bet on Qatar at Qatar 2022? Here's mine.

By pretty much all metrics, the current Qatar national football team is considered to be the country’s best ever.

The team’s imperious victory at the Asia Cup 2019, and strong showings during South America’s Copa America in Brazil in 2019, followed up by a semi-final place at the CONCACAF Gold Cup last summer (only losing to a late goal against the hosts USA), all signs are pointing to a team that is peaking just at the right time. My three picks

Abdelkarim Hassan

The left-sided defender is one of the leading stars in a ‘golden generation’ of Qatari footballers. Not only is he a serial winner with his club side Al Sadd SC, but he was instrumental in the national team’s triumph at the Asian Cup 2019, and was even voted Asia’s best player in 2018. Still only 28 years old, he has already represented Qatar more than 120 times, and is widely considered by fans as one of the country’s greatest ever players.

Al-Moez Ali

The Al-Duhail striker became a national hero thanks to his role as Top Goalscorer, and Player of the Tournament in Qatar’s victorious Asian Cup 2019 campaign. But it didn’t stop there. He wrote another page of history in 2021 when he was crowned the Top Scorer at the ConcaCaf Gold Cup, scoring 4 goals in the tournament and becoming the first player to have the Top Scorer accolade in two different continents. Now the captain of Al-Duhail, the striker will be a crucial part of Qatar’s success at the world cup.

Akram Afif

Winner of the Asian Footballer of the Year in 2019, followers of Asian football know all about the tricky left-winger. The Al Sadd attacker spent some time at La Liga’s Villarreal, before returning back to run riot in the Qatar Stars League, winning a trio of titles. He was also an instrumental part of the Asia Cup winning side in 2019, which led him to being voted the Asian Player of the Year later in the year.