A dark day for the proud footballing nation of Qatar
Qatar’s footballers have suffered a shock defeat in their preparations for their own World Cup, losing a warmup game against Linfield of the Northern Irish Premiership.
Qatar, who will hope to win this summer’s tournament on home soil, faced Linfield in Marbella, where Chris McKee scored the only goal of the game.
The World Cup hosts fielded a side which included seven of the players that started their goalless draw with Slovenia in March.
Just to put some perspective on how incredible this result is, the Northern Ireland national team drew 1-1 against Qatar in 2015.
𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗡 ⚽️
Chris McKee scores the Blues first goal of pre season and breaks the deadlock 👀💪#COYB #AFJ pic.twitter.com/OdMqWJSB1M
— Linfield FC (@OfficialBlues) June 21, 2022
Qatar will face off against Ecuador in their opening World Cup fixture and will also play against the Netherlands and Senegal in what will be the nation’s first-ever World Cup finals.
Tuesday’s game between the two sides was also the first of Linfield’s pre-season preparations as they focus on their Champions League qualifiers.
David Healy’s side will go up against Welsh side, The New Saints, playing the first leg in Wales before hosting the return fixture at Windsor Park.
Linfield are regulars against international opposition
Linfield’s win against Qatar isn’t the first time they have gone up against international opposition either, having played Kenya and Argentina before.
The Northern Irish side beat Kenya 1-0 at Windsor Park during a fixture in September, 2002. They lost by a single goal to Argentina in 1990 as they prepared for that year’s World Cup.
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- Eddie Nketiah and Tariq Lamptey close to switching international allegiance
