2026 World Cup: Qatar looks to make history in Seattle

23 Jun 2026, 19:37 by Jayda Evans · The Seattle Times

In their second FIFA Men’s World Cup appearance, the best and the worst of Qatar has been on display.

The Maroons earned their first-ever point after a draw against Switzerland in their Group B opener earlier this month. Qatar followed the historic moment with an epic defensive breakdown, losing 6-0 to co-host Canada on Thursday.

A Canadian player’s leg was broken after a hard foul, two Qatari players were sent off and there was a scrum at the end of the match, including a tense handshake between Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui and Canada’s Jesse Marsch, the latter throwing his hands in the air and walking off.

With a chance to make history for their country, which Qatar (0-1-1) team will show for the final group-stage match against Bosnia-Herzegovina (0-1-1) on Wednesday? An outright win for either side could advance them to the knockout rounds.

Related More World Cup

“About the last match, we talked,” Lopetegui said. “It’s in the past. Now we are focusing on the challenge we have, and there’s no need to pull out much more things to talk about.”

Qatar will be without defender Homam Ahmed and midfielder Assim Madibo against Bosnia. Ahmed was shown a straight red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity against Canada, while Madibo was ejected for a challenge that broke Canada midfielder Ismaël Koné’s leg.

Lopetegui said Madibo remained in Vancouver, B.C., after the loss to offer any assistance to Koné and his family. The in-game collision was an accident, according to Lopetegui.

“We wish him all the best and to recover as soon as possible,” Lopetegui said Tuesday.

Qatari players were upbeat at their training session at the University of Washington on Tuesday.

The Maroons hosted the World Cup in 2022 and became the first host nation to not win a match. Qatar exited the then-32-team field in the group stage.

Even with Ahmed and Madibo, a match against Bosnia was going to be difficult.

The countries haven’t played each other in past World Cups. Only one player on Bosnia’s roster plays in the domestic league, compared to 25 of Qatar’s 26-player roster. Bosnia defeated Italy in a UEFA qualifier in March to earn one of the last World Cup berths.

“They are a strong team physically and technically,” Lopetegui said. “All of the teams in these types of countries have a high technical quality. They have strikers that are not only tall but very big with more experience … we have a big challenge before us.”

Qatar hopes they’ll have a similar following at Seattle Stadium on Wednesday like they did in Canada. While the fans didn’t propel the team to a win, they felt the energy and support.

The Maroons have been on a journey since 2017 to get to the global stage. Since the 2022 quadrennial tournament, Qatar won a second Asian Cup championship.

Wednesday offers another chance to show that side of the national team.

One of the final tiebreakers is by Fair Play rankings. Because of the red cards, Qatar is -11 in that category.

“We are following one dream,” Lopetegui said. “It’s never happened (for Qatar) in this tournament. This kind of situation, the team has to enjoy. To have this big challenge and have this big opportunity, not a lot of teams have this.”