Qatar will also play the Copa America in June and July in a group with Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, followed by the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July and August, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean
Tuesday 8 December 2020 23:29, UK
Qatar have been invited by UEFA to join the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifying group to play friendlies in the build-up to the 2022 tournament.
The World Cup hosts will join Group A featuring the Republic, Portugal, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.
The arrangement provides Asian champion Qatar with 10 friendlies in Europe ahead of the World Cup, with Republic of Ireland scheduled to face them on March 30 and October 12 2021.
Qatar will be joining the only five-team qualifying group not featuring the UEFA Nations League finalists, while the other groups in Europe contain six sides.
Qatar will play all the matches in Europe. Because they receive an automatic berth as host, they were seeking matches to ensure they were competitive at their first World Cup.
The Qataris are also set to play in both regional tournaments covering the Americas next year.
They will first contest the Copa America from June 11-July 10 as part of a group with co-host Colombia as well as Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Then a Qatari team will be in the United States for the July 10-August 1 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Qatar won their first Asian Cup title in 2019 by beating Japan in the final and are No. 59 in the FIFA world rankings.
Ahead of Euro 2016, France were the first host nation to take part in a European Championship qualification phase, with their group-stage contests serving as friendlies with no points awarded.
As was the case with France ahead of Euro 2016, Qatar will not be officially listed in Group A.
Speaking about their inclusion in Group A, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, Qatar FA president said: "We are delighted that Qatar will participate in UEFA qualifying matches.
"Playing matches in Group A against high-quality teams provides our national teams with an excellent foundation as we continue our journey of preparation ahead of 2022."
