(Reuters) -Qatar’s all-time top scorer Almoez Ali and Akram Afif are set to lead the attack for the World Cup hosts after coach Felix Sanchez named his 26-man squad for the tournament on Friday.
Sanchez has opted for most of the squad who helped Qatar win the Asian Cup in 2019, where Ali — who has 42 goals in 85 games for his country — was top scorer with nine while his strike partner Afif also netted in the final when they beat Japan 3-1.
With more than 160 caps, Hasan Al-Haydos is the most experienced player on the list and the Al Sadd midfielder, who can also play as a winger, will lead Qatar at the finals.
The squad is entirely made up of players who ply their trade in the Qatar Stars League, with half from champions Al Sadd.
Qatar are in Group A alongside Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands. They will play the opening game of the tournament against Ecuador on Nov. 20.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Saad Alsheeb, Meshaal Barsham, Yousef Hassan
Defenders: Pedro Miguel, Musaab Khidir, Tarek Salman, Bassam Al-Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan, Homam Ahmed, Jassem Gaber
Midfielders: Ali Asad, Assim Modibo, Mohammed Waad, Salem Al-Hajri, Moustafa Tarek, Karim Boudiaf, Abdelaziz Hatim, Ismail Mohamad
Forwards: Naif Alhadhrami, Ahmed Alaaeldin, Hassan Al-Haydos, Khalid Muneer, Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, Mohamed Muntari
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru and Ahmed Maher in Cairo; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)
