Qatar's national team's journey to the 2022 World Cup

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The expectations for the national team, the highs and lows, the victories and losses.

On November 20, Qatar will become the first nation to participate in the FIFA World Cup for the first time as the host nation, making history.

In December 2010, FIFA made the announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup, drawing interest from soccer fans to the Gulf state.

The Qatar Football Association (QFA) was established in 1960, and three years later it joined FIFA. The Qatari squad made its first impression in the Gulf Cup in 1984 when it reached the final but lost to Iraq on penalties after spending the previous 20 years losing the majority of their international games.

Qatar has never previously qualified for the World Cup, but they came very close on several occasions.

After placing third in the last round of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, they were eliminated from contention for France in 1998 after losing their final playoff to Saudi Arabia.

As hosts of the Asian Games, Qatar won the gold medal, continuing their advancement at the regional and continental levels throughout the 2000s.

Qatar had a strong group stage performance at the tournament in the UAE, winning all three games and scoring ten goals.

In the round of 16, they overcame Iraq with a lot of effort. They then edged out South Korea in the quarterfinals and destroyed UAE in the semifinals.

Star attacker Almoez Ali gave Qatar the lead early in the final, and a solid defence headed by goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb helped the team triumph 3-1.

They scored 19 goals during the tournament and only let up one in the championship game.

In the last three European tournaments, 10 of the 16 knockout spots were filled by European nations. This number falls to an average of seven when the championships are held outside of Europe.

While twice as many Asian teams advance to the knockout round when the finals aren't in Europe, South American teams profit the most from this decline.

Qatar has participated in a number of AFC world cup qualifying groups and the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where it advanced to the semifinals.

The Annabi finished third at the Gulf Cup and went on to earn their highest FIFA ranking of 48 last year.

Qatar's supporters will be hopeful that their club can take advantage of the home advantage and challenge for the knockout rounds given its recent ascent in international football.