World Cup 2022: football in Qatar - leagues, top clubs, stars
Created: 10/28/2022 5:03 p.m
World Cup Stadium 974 in Doha © IMAGO / MIS
The Qatar Stars League was founded in 1963 and is the highest football league in Qatar.
It currently consists of 12 top teams with international stars.
Doha – Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup for the first time this year.
Absolute novelty: a World Cup in winter.
Qatar, an emirate in Western Asia, located east of the Arabian Peninsula and almost entirely surrounded by the waters of the Persian Arabian Gulf.
With an area of almost 11,500 km, Qatar is around 30 times smaller than Germany.
In addition to many small clubs, the Qatar Stars League includes the best clubs in the country:
Al Ahly Doha
Al-Arabi
Al Duhail
Al-Gharafa
Al-Khor
Al Rayyan
Al Sadd
Al-Sailiya
Al-Shahaniya
Al-Wakrah
Qatar
Umm Salal
Al-Maref was the first champion of the Stars League, while the 2020/21 season's top spot is Club Al-Sadd with 15 titles.
The goal: the Asian Champions League AFC
The championship is played with return games, with all clubs having to play each other twice.
Together with the winner of the Emir of Qatar Cup, Qatar's national football competition, the champions of the Qatar Stars League then qualify for the AFC Champions League.
The Asian Champions League is the most important competition within the framework of the annual Asian Cup.
Record holder is the Club Al-Sadd
Known as “White Shirts”, Club Al-Sadd is the country's record champion and record cup winner, having won twelve championships and a further twelve cups.
The club's greatest international success was in the AFC Champions League, in which they emerged victorious in 1989 and 2011.
To date, Al-Sadd SC football team is the only Qatar team to have won this title.
In December 2011, the club won third place at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Well-known players of the Qatar Stars League
In addition to national top stars such as record player Hassan Al-Haydos, the club can look back on an impressive list of top international players.
Mario Basler once played for SC Al-Rayyan, Stefan Effenberg for Club Al-Arabi, Frenchman Frank Leboeuf for Al-Sadd and Al-Wakrah and football legend Pep Guardiola for Al-Ahly.
also read
World Cup 2022: The schedule for the World Cup - All games at a glance
World Cup 2022: The time difference between Germany and Qatar
More football clubs in Qatar
In addition to the clubs in the country's top division, the Qatar Stars League, there are a few other clubs based mainly in Doha, the capital of Qatar, as well as in Al-Rayyan and Al-Khor.
Al Bidda
Al Kharaitiyat
Al Duhail
Al Markhiya
AL Mesai Sea
Al Mu'aidar
Al Shamal
Qatar national football team
Qatar's national team is made up of Club Daulat Qatar, better known by the nickname Al-Anabbi, which means "The Wine Reds".
The team has been coached by Spaniard Félix Sanchez Bas since 2017.
Player Hassan al-Haydos is the record-breaking player for the Qatar national team with 158 appearances on the pitch.
Club Daulat Qatar has also had some successes so far, including victory at the 2019 Asian Championship, the 2019 group stage at the South American Championship and reaching the semi-finals of the 2021 North and Central American Championship.