DOHA: Veteran Sebastian Soria and experienced defender Tarek Salman were among the notable omissions as Qatar head coach Julen Lopetegui trimmed his preliminary squad to 28 players, who will travel to Dublin for a pre-World Cup friendly against Ireland.
Lopetegui’s initial 35-man squad had undergone a two-week training camp at home before the selection was reduced ahead of the trip. The team will depart for Dublin, where they face the hosts at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday.
The head coach will then announce his final 26-man World Cup squad after the friendly, ahead of FIFA’s June 2 deadline for final submissions.
Qatar SC forward Soria, 42, had been included in the preliminary list, while Salman’s omission - having featured in Al Annabi’s World Cup debut four years ago - came as a surprise.
Bassam Al Rawi, Mohammed Waad, Mubarak Shanan, Niall Mason and goalkeeper Fahad Younus were also left out.
Teenager Tahsin Mohammed Jamshid, 19, retained his place, along with Mohammed Muntari. Veteran Hassan Al Haydos remains part of the attacking unit, alongside influential playmaker Akram Afif and striker Almoez Ali, who is back to full fitness.
At the back, experienced figures Lucas Mendez and Pedro Miguel continue to provide stability, while the goalkeeping department features Mahmoud Abunada, Meshaal Barsham, Salah Zakaria and Shehab Ellethy.
The Ireland fixture will offer Lopetegui another opportunity to assess combinations and fitness levels, ahead of Qatar’s final warm-up match against El Salvador on June 6 in preparation for the World Cup.
The 2026 edition will be staged jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. Two-time Asian champions Qatar have been drawn in Group B and will open their campaign against Switzerland on June 13 at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, before facing co-hosts Canada in Vancouver on June 19 and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle on June 24.
After debuting as World Cup hosts four years ago, Qatar have now reached the tournament again - this time by earning qualification through the competitive route. Their passage was secured late last year with victories over Oman and the UAE.
Qatar have set a clear objective of reaching the knockout stage.
“The first target is to clear the group. We have a chance to qualify for the knockout stage and we are ready. We will give everything to qualify. We just have to fight until the end. After we qualify, we will take one match at a time,” Miguel said on Sunday during an open training session.
“All the players are excited. All the players are giving 100% in training to be in the best shape for the first game.”
Qatar exited early after losing all their matches in the previous edition, but Al Annabi are determined to deliver a stronger showing this time.
“Our goal in this tournament is to perform better than in the previous one,” said Homam Al-Amin.
“There won’t be any easy matches; all the teams in our group are tough. We, as the Qatari national team, have to focus on ourselves.”
Qatar squad
Mahmoud Abunada, Meshaal Barsham, Salah Zakaria, Shehab Ellethy (goalkeepers); Abdulaziz Hatem, Ahmed Al Janehi, Ahmed Alaaeldin, Ahmed Fathy, Akram Afif, Alhashmi Alhussain, Almoez Ali, Assim Madibo, Ayoub Al Oui, Boualem Khoukhi, Emilson Junior, Hassan Al Haydos, Homam Al Amin, Issa Laye, Jassim Gaber, Karim Boudiaf, Lucas Mendis, Mohammed Mannai, Mohammed Muntari, Pedro Miguel, Rayyan Al Ali, Sultan Al Brake, Tahsin Mohammed, Yusuf Abdurisag
