Qatar

Players

No. Name Position
22 Ahmed ABDELRHEM Goalkeeper
7 Ahmad MADADI Left Wing
1 Ali GARBA Goalkeeper
6 Ali ALDERI Left Wing
23 Allaedine BERRACHED Right Wing
26 Amine GUEHIS Right Back
94 Ameen ZAKKAR Right Back
91 Amor DHIAB Left Wing
92 Anis ZOUAOUI Right Back
12 Danijel SARIC Goalkeeper
18 Firas CHAIEB Pivot
31 Eldar MEMISEVIC Right Wing
10 Frankis MARZO Right Back
38 Hamad MADADI Pivot
93 Hamdi AYED Left Wing
4 Hassan MABROUK Pivot
89 Houssem ROMANE Centre Back
20 Jovo DAMJANOVIC Pivot
25 Kamal Al Din Mallash Playmaker
86 Mahmoud Hassaballa Playmaker
19 Marwan SASSI Right Wing
76 Mirza Kapic Right Wing
14 Mohamed Soussi Goalkeeper
13 Mohamed ABIDI Goalkeeper
88 Moustafa Heiba Playmaker
5 Mustafa Aalkrad Right Back
27 Nidhal Aissa Right Wing
21 Mutasem Mohamed Left Wing
66 Omar Abdelfattah Right Wing
9 Rafael Capote Left Back
17 Shadi Hamdoun Playmaker
37 Yassine SAMI Pivot
24 Wajdi Sinen Pivot
41 Youssef ALI Pivot
35 Zineeooine Boumendjel Right Back

Road to Egypt 2021: Qatar reached the 27th Men’s Handball World Championship as the winners of the 2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship.

History: Qatar have made seven appearances in the World Championship, and their best finish was in 2015 when they came in second.

Coach: Valero Rivera López (ESP)

Nickname: The Maroons

At the 2015 IHF Men’s World Championship, Qatar made a name for themselves in the handball world. The silver medal they claimed on home soil – they lost to France 22:25 in the final – set the bar considerably high for them in the following international competitions.

Still led by legendary Spanish-born coach Valero Rivera, they ranked among the top eight teams at France 2017 – for the second time in history. Two years later, at Germany/Denmark 2019, they did not succeed to make it into the main round and had to settle for 13th place.

Last January, they took gold for the fourth consecutive time at the 2020 AHF Men’s Asian Championship in Kuwait. It was a perfect run of seven victories in seven matches, which shows the pre-eminence of the Gulf nation in the continent.

In the semi-final, Qatar defeated Bahrain 28:24, taking revenge for the loss suffered in 2019 in the same round at the Men’s Asian Olympic Qualification event. They were crowned champions after a 33:21 triumph against Republic of Korea, whom they had previously beaten 34:27 in the main round.

“We aim to be among the first eight teams,” says Valero Rivera. After Kuwait 2020, he affirms that the defence is the part of his team he trusts the most. On the contrary, he mentions they must work hard “on the direct counter-attacks.”

Qatar are a mature side with plenty of distinguished athletes. Veteran goalkeeper Danijel Saric is undoubtedly one of them. The 43-year-old Al Duhail player, one of the stars in the Qatar 2015 feat, had a save percentage of 31% at Germany/Denmark 2019 and still has much to offer.

The Asian team can be extremely dangerous in offence. Cuban-born left back Frankis Marzo was the third-highest scorer at Kuwait 2020 with 30 goals and earned a place on the All-star Team. The 33-year-old attacker, who plays his club handball for Sporting CP in Portugal, contributed 39 goals at Germany/Denmark 2019.

Al Duhail left back Rafael Capote and Alarabi SC line player Youssef Ben Ali are from the same generation as Marzo. Cuban-born Capote scored 30 goals at the last Asian Championship and provides a torrent of shooting power. Ben Ali, born in Tunisia, was named the All-star Pivot at Kuwait 2020 and was the leading scorer for Qatar with 46 goals at the last World Championship.

“We [have been] able to train with most of the players from mid-November,” comments Valero Rivera. “COVID-19 will determine if we can play friendly matches or tournaments.”

For the coach, Group C will be a “difficult” one. Qatar will meet EHF EURO silver medallists Croatia, as well as Japan and Angola – to whom they lost their Germany/Denmark 2019 opener.

Team PLD W D L GF GA GD PTS
C1 Croatia 3 2 1 0 83 73 10 5
C2 Qatar 3 2 0 1 85 80 5 4
C3 Japan 3 1 1 1 88 89 -1 3
C4 Angola 3 0 0 3 74 88 -14 0

(C) Qatar

  • 30 - 25

    Borg Al Arab Sports Hall, Alexandria 2021-01-15 , 16:30:00

  • 31 - 29

    Borg Al Arab Sports Hall, Alexandria 2021-01-17 , 16:30:00

  • 26 - 24

    Borg Al Arab Sports Hall, Alexandria 2021-01-19 , 19:00:00