Doha, Qatar: Qatar coach Marquez Lopez yesterday named the squad for the upcoming joint FIFA World Cup 2026 and Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.

Lopez has rested 2023 Asian Cup winning strikers Akram Afif and Almoez Ali as Qatar gear up to play Afghanistan on June 6 at Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawai Stadium Hofuf in Saudi Arabia. Five days later Qatar host India on June 11 at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

Coach Lopez has picked a relatively young side that does not include veteran defender Pedro Miguel, goalkeeper Meshaal Barham and Bassam Al Rawi besides resting Afif and Almoez, two of Qatar’s top football players.

Asian Cup winning captain Hassan Al Haydos was not considered having retired from international duty in March.

Qatar, placed 33 on FIFA rankings, have already qualified for the next round of Asian Cup qualifiers.

In their earlier match-ups, Qatar beat India 3-0 (away clash at Kalinga Stadium) and crushed Afghanistan 8-1 at the Khalifa International Stadium. Both matches were played last November.

Qatar Squad: Amir Hassan, Ali Nader, Saad Al Sheeb, Shehab Al Laithi, Abdullah Al Ahrak, Abdullah Al Yazidi, Abdullah Youseff, Ahmed Al Janahi, Ahmed Fathy, Ahmed Al Rawi, Al Hashaemi Al Hussein, Fares Saeed, Homam Al Amin, Hazem Ahmed, Ibrahim Al Hassa, Jassim Al Sharsani, Khaled Ali, Mahdi Maged Al Moajaba, Mohamed Ayash, Mohamed Khaled, Mustafa Tariq, Nabeel Irfan, Naif Al Hadhrami, Tahseen Mohamed, Tamim Mansour, Youseff Abdulrazzaqm Youseff Ayman, Youseff Mohamed and Youseff Ziad.

Coach: Marquez Lopez

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