Soccer-World Cup the test of Qatar's expensive bid to develop homegrown talent

DOHA : When Qatar play Ecuador in the World Cup showpiece opener on Nov. 20, an 18-year, billion dollar national project to build a respectable - and possibly competitive - national squad will be put to the test.

Victory in that opening match, the team's first appearance at global soccer's showpiece event, would give Qatar vital points and the momentum needed to make it through to the last 16, said former Qatar forward Mohamed Mubarak al-Mohannadi.

"I'm looking to win the first game. It's the most important... We're not asking them to (win) the World Cup," he added.

Most of Qatar's World Cup side - the majority of whom are nationals and expatriates born, raised and naturalised in Qatar - were scouted as kids and came up through the ranks of the $1.3 billion Aspire Academy.

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, brother of Qatar's ruling emir, established Aspire in 2004 to develop homegrown players - six years before Qatar's national team automatically qualified for the 2022 World Cup when it was named host country.

Many of the side - including star duo Akram Afif and top-scorer Almoez Ali - have been playing together under Spanish-born coach Felix Sanchez since 2014, when he led them as an Under-19 Qatari side to the AFC youth championship title.

"A lot of these players have been with (Sanchez) since they were kids ... he's like a father to these guys," said Mohamed El Gharbawy, a Qatar-based soccer journalist

In Qatar, Sanchez is credited with instilling a distinctly Spanish style of "one touch, small pass, good teamwork, possession-based play", said Ahmed Hashim, editor of Qatar Football Live, a twitter channel.

Since June, Sanchez has taken Qatar's players to training camps in Spain and Austria.

They emerged to play a