Aspire Academy came into last year’s tournament riding the crest of a wave following the historic success of Qatar’s senior team (several of whom were Academy graduates) in the 2019 Asian Cup. The youngsters coped well with the raised levels of expectancy, and briefly looked capable of defeating Roma to reach the final, before losing out on penalties in heart-breaking fashion.

Aspire have competed in all eight of the previous Al Kass tournaments, with the second place achieved in 2017 remaining the high watermark. Qatar’s odyssey in preparing for the hosting of the FIFA 2022 World Cup finals is placed into context when contemplating the fact that the youngsters turning out for the Academy this time round were six years old or less when the right to host the World Cup was secured. So much progress has been made in the intervening 10 years – both on and off the pitch – and Aspire Academy will once more carry the hopes of a nation as they go for glory again.

1 Amir Katoul
2 Chalpan Abdulnasir
3 Saifeldeen Fadlalla
4 Mohammed Ali
5 Hassan Alghareeb
6 Mostafa Abouelela
7 Mobark Hamza
8 Jassem Alsharshani
9 Mohammed Al-Quraishi
10 Mahdi Almejaba
11 Mobark Surag
12 Yousef Elkhatib
13 Talal Al-Raeesi
14 Abdulaziz Al-Naimi
15 Yousif Elnoiri
16 Talal Al Shaaibi
19 Abdulrahman Al-Dosari
20 Abdelrahman Ahmed
21 Abdulrahman Al-Naimi
22 Abdalla Abrahim