Team Qatar

Early years (1940s–1950s)

Football was brought to Qatar during a time which coincided with the initial discovery of oil reserves in Dukhan in 1940. By 1948, teams were created by expatriate oil workers from countries such as India, and various Arabian nations. Among the first documented teams in Qatar were a team formed for the Northern Arab Region, and a team formed near the Al-Khatia area of Dukhan. The first tournament in the country was the "Ezz Eddin Tournament", held by the Qatar Oil Company in 1951. In the late 1950s, the name was changed to the "Pukett Cup".

With the growing interest in football, The Qatar Football Association (QFA) was established in 1960, and the QFA joined FIFA in 1963. Simultaneously during this period, the Bahrain Football Association were drawing up plans for the establishment of a regional football competition within the GCC and Qatari officials were involved with the collaboration of this proposal. The plans came to fruition and in March 1970, when the Arabian Gulf Cup was inaugurated.

Rise of Qatari football: 1970s–1980s

The Qatar national team played its first official match on 27 March 1970 against hosts Bahrain in the 1970 Gulf Cup, losing 1–2 with Mubarak Faraj scoring the sole goal for Qatar. The newly formed Qatar side gave underwhelming performances in the tournament, coming in last place with a single point, with the highlight of their tournament being a 1–1 draw with rivals Saudi Arabia in their final match, and player Khaled Ballan winning the Best Player of the Tournament.

In 1972, the next edition of the 1972 Gulf Cup, Qatar again finished last place after suffering 3 straight defeats. The next tournament in 1974 proved to be somewhat of a breakthrough for the Qataris as they achieved their first triumph in international football with a 4–0 victory over Oman. The team lost to Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals, where they achieved a 3rd place finish in the tournament, after emerging victorious in a penalty shoot-out against the United Arab Emirates, Qatari player Mohammed Ghanim won the Best Player of the Tournament award.

Qatar entered the 1976 AFC Asian Cup qualification for the AFC Asian Cup which was held in the next year. They were not successful in qualifying, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia qualifying. Despite this setback, Qatar went on to finish 3rd place in the 1976 Gulf Cup as the host nation the next year, solidifying themselves as one of the best teams in the Arab region, with emerging players such as Mansour Muftah, Khaled Ballan, Mohammed Ghanim.

The national team participated in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers match for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Qatar was set to play the United Arab Emirates on 11 March 1977, but a last-minute with-drawal of the Emiratis team from the competition merely postponed Qatar's debut until two days later when Bahrain were defeated 2–0 in Doha.

1980s–1990s

Qatar debuted for their first AFC Asian Cup in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup under Brazilian head coach Evaristo. They had qualified for the tournament after topping a relatively easy group composing of Bangladesh and Afghanistan. In the main tournament, Qatar was unsuccessful in advancing to the knockout stage, making an early exit from the competition with two defeats, one draw and one win.

In 1984, Qatar narrowly lost to Iraq in the finals of the 1984 Gulf Cup, nonetheless they were named runners-up, one of their most impressive achievements until their 1992 Gulf Cup.

They failed to make it out of the preliminary stages of the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds. However, the team qualified for both the 1984 and 1988 editions of the Asian Cup. They fell short of qualifying for the semi-finals of the 1984 tournament, with Saudi Arabia's Mohaisen Al-Jam'an's 88th-minute goal against Kuwait, ensuring a semi-final position for both teams. They also missed out on a semi-final place in 1988, however, they notably defeated Japan by a score of 3–0.

Golden era: 1990s–2000s

Qatar arguably reached its peak in the 1990s, attaining a FIFA rating of (53) in August 1993. Qatar started off with an emphatic qualifying campaign for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, finishing at the top of their group. However they couldn't advance in the tournament, due to finishing below the United Arab Emirates and South Korea in the final round of the qualifiers.

In the 1990 Gulf Cup, the national team once again finished runners-up as Kuwait won the final two matches of the tournament.

In 1992, they won the 1992 Gulf Cup on home soil for the first time under the leadership of Sebastião Lapola, despite a 1–0 loss against Saudi Arabia in their final game. Mubarak Mustafa, won both the top scorer and man of the tournament awards. They were also named runners-up in the 1996 Gulf Cup.

Qatar reached the Asian Zone's final qualifying round for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After wins against China and Iran, they played their last match against Saudi Arabia, where a victory would have earned qualification. However, they lost out as Saudi Arabia won 1–0 to reach the finals.

As 1998 Arab Cup hosts, they finished runners-up to Saudi Arabia.

2000–2010

They made it to the quarter-finals of the 2000 AFC Asian Cup despite finishing 3rd in their group, but lost to China in their quarter-final confrontation.

They reached the final qualifying round again in 2001 but were defeated by Bora Milutinovic's China team, who topped the section to progress to their first FIFA World Cup. Frenchman Philippe Troussier took the manager's job after the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, but was unsuccessful in both the 2004 AFC Asian Cup and the qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.