Qatar

Qatar's warm-up campaign has hit a snag after a 1-0 loss to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, leaving the side to reassess their preparation ahead of the upcoming tournament. Coach Julen Lopetegui, who oversaw a final home training session with all 35 probables on 25 May, now faces the task of trimming the squad to 26 as the next friendly approaches. With the tournament looming, Qatar must finalize a competitive roster and regain momentum to enter the competition on a stronger footing.

Qatar comes up against Switzerland at home in the FIFA World Cup Group B clash on Saturday. Qatar have won only one of their last five matches (W1, D1, L3). The Asian hosts, since Julen Lopetegui took charge as head coach, play a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 and are disciplined in their possession, compact, with wide play to get the ball to star attacker Akram Afif. The ex-Al Sadd forward is a focal point of their attack and will likely be targeted in build-up play on Saturday. But Qatar are not a side that scores many goals and they rely on the talent of Al Sheeb in goal to keep things tight enough for them to get a result. Saad Al Sheeb has been busy at home recently, where Qatar have won just two, drawn one and lost three of their last six games. They conceded 1.67 goals a game in that run and their only win in that sequence was at home to United Arab Emirates in World Cup qualification, and two defeats to Zimbabwe and Ireland have followed that success.