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U 20 profile



Qatar U-20 men's national team, also known as the Qatar's Under-20s, played a great role in the development of the game in Qatar and gave it its first shining moment on the global stage when the young squad finished second in the 1981youth World Cup in Australia.

Qatar's response to the newly created world youth championship came in the form of establishing a youth team of its own in 1976, the team failed to qualify for the first two inaugural tournament in 1977 in Tunisia and in 1997 in Japan,  however; Qatar U-20s got their best result two years later in Australia, who after a lackluster first round really set the tournament alight. Coached by Brazilian Evaristo, they impressed in every facet of the game. Against Brazil in the quarter-finals, it was their dynamism and enterprising attack and an intelligent deployment of the offside trap that won the day (3-2). In the semis, up against a compact English eleven, they were able to rely on an inspired performance from their goalkeeper Ahmed. A solid defense, mettle in the tackle and effective opportunism in the penalty area did the rest.

They finished second suffering a 0-4 defeat to West Germany in the final on a soggy pitch that had surely failed to help the young middle easterners.

Qatar's second international appearance came in fourteen years later, while Nigeria was setting up the stage to host the 1995 version, an epidemic of Ebola broke out in the Western parts of Africa, thus, forcing FIFA to relocate the tournament to Qatar, where the local officials proved exceptional efficiency in organizing such a big event in a period of twenty days.