Doha, Qatar: Portuguese coach Ilidio Vale yesterday announced the Qatar U-23 team’s 23-man squad for the upcoming AFC U-23 Asian Cup set to kick off on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.
The national squad departed for Saudi Arabia following their final training session at home. The tournament will see 16 teams vying to lift the coveted trophy.
This will mark Qatar's sixth appearance in the continental tournament’s seventh edition. Qatar are aiming to surpass their previous best achievement of a third-place finish, which they secured in 2018.
The selected players include goalkeepers Amir Hassan, Abubaker Mohammed, and Ali Ghulais. The outfield players are Tahsin Mohammed, Al-Hashemi Al-Hussain, Ahmed Reyad, Anas Abdulsalam, Ayuob Alaoui, Abdullah Mujeeb, Saifeddine Hassan, Hassan Al-Ghareeb, Rashid Abdulaziz, Abdulaziz Mohammed, Jassem Al-Sharshani, Fares Saeed, Mubarak Shanan, Mohammed Khaled, Marwan Sherif, Moath Ibrahim, Mahdi Al-Mejaba, Mohammed Suraj, Nabil Irfan, and Mostafa Al-Sayed.
Qatar have been drawn into Group B, where they will face two-time champions Japan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
The Al Annabi will open their campaign against the UAE on Wednesday followed by their second match against Syria on January 10. They will play their last group match against Japan on January 13.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages, culminating in the final on January 25.
