Coach Sanchez announces Qatar’s preliminary squad for AFC Asian Cup

Doha, Qatar: Qatar national team coach Felix Sanchez announced the list of 27 probables for the AFC Asian Cup to be held in the UAE from January 5 to February 1.

The list will be trimmed to a final 23 after Al Annabi the camp and three friendlies.

Qatar will play Jordan on December 23, Kyrgyzstan on 25, Algeria on 27 and Iran on 31 in Doha before they leave for the UAE for the prestigious competition.

Qatar are in a tough Group E of the competition alongside Lebanon, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Qatar take on  Lebanon in their first match on January 9, North Korea on 13 and Saudi Arabia on 17.

Only two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage.

Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb, Youssef Hassan, Mohammed Al Bakri, Jassim Al Hail, Yazen Naim

Defenders: Bassam Hisham, Sultan Al Brake, Hamed Ismail, Boualem Khoukhi, Tariq Salman, Abdelkareem Al Ali, Pedro Miguel, Mohammed Alaa, Abdul Karim Hassan, Ali Afif, Mohammed Musa

Midfielders: Salim Al Hajri, Assem Madbo, Karim Boudiaf, Ali Awad, Ahmed Fathy, Abdulrahman Fahmy, Abdulaziz Hatem

Forwards: Hassan Al Haydous, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, Ahmed Alaa.