National handball team
| Qatar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Information | |||
| Association | Qatar Handball Association | ||
| Coach | Valero Rivera López | ||
| Assistant coach | Ricardo Arcas | ||
| Captain | Ahmad Madadi | ||
| Most caps | Abdulrazzaq Murad (78) | ||
| Ranking | #70 (108 points) | ||
| Colours | |||
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| Results | |||
| Summer Olympics | |||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2016) | ||
| Best result | 8th (2016) | ||
| World Championship | |||
| Appearances | 10 (First in 2003) | ||
| Best result |  2nd (2015) | ||
| Asian Championship | |||
| Appearances | 17 (First in 1983) | ||
| Best result |  1st (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) | ||
| Last updated on Unknown. | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Championship | ||
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2015 Qatar | |
| Asian Championship | ||
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2014 Bahrain | |
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2016 Bahrain | |
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2018 South Korea | |
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2020 Kuwait | |
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2022 Saudi Arabia | |
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2024 Bahrain | |
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2002 Iran | |
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2012 Saudi Arabia | |
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2004 Qatar | |
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2006 Thailand | |
The Qatar national handball team is controlled by the Qatar Handball Association and take part in international handball competitions.
Qatar has the distinction of being the only non-European side to reach the final of the Men’s World Handball Championship, when they finished as runners-up at the 2015 edition, losing to France in a close contest (22–25) on home soil.
Honours
- Winners: 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024
- Winners: 2014, 2018
Results
Summer Olympics
- 2016 – 8th place
World Championship
- 2003 – 16th place
- 2005 – 21st place
- 2007 – 23rd place
- 2013 – 20th place
- 2015 – 2nd place
- 2017 – 8th place
- 2019 – 13th place
- 2021 – 8th place
- 2023 – 22nd place
- 2025 – Qualified
Asian Championship
- 1983 – 6th place
- 1987 – 6th place
- 1989 – 6th place
- 1991 – 4th place
- 1993 – 7th place
- 2002 – 2nd place
- 2004 – 3rd place
- 2006 – 3rd place
- 2008 – 5th place
- 2010 – 5th place
- 2012 – 2nd place
- 2014 – 1st place
- 2016 – 1st place
- 2018 – 1st place
- 2020 – 1st place
- 2022 – 1st place
- 2024 – 1st place
Current squad
Squad for the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship.
Head coach: Valero Rivera López
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Controversy
See also: 2015 World Men's Handball Championship § Controversy
Player naturalisation
The Qatari national team naturalized a large number of foreign players to their squad for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship.
According to IHF rules, to gain eligibility for a new national team, a player cannot have played for another nation for three years in an official match. This allowed several foreign-born players, including Spanish-born Borja Vidal, Goran Stojanović and Jovo Damjanović from Montenegro, and Bertrand Roiné who previously played for France, to play for the Qatar team at the championship.
Head of the Qatar Handball Federation, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi, acknowledged the policy in a statement in June 2013, saying "We're a small nation with limited human resources, so we had to bring players from outside in the past." He also announced an end to the policy at the time, adding however that they " make an exception only in the case of an experienced goalkeeper." In January 2014, Danish sports agent Mads Winther said he had met with "contacts involved with Qatar" regarding the possibility of naturalising Danish players.
The practice was criticised by Austrian goalkeeper Thomas Bauer after his team's loss to Qatar in the quarter-final, saying "It like playing against a world selection team" and "I think it is not the sense of a world championship." At a press conference during the championship, Qatar head coach Valero Rivera declined to comment on the matter. Spanish player Joan Cañellas did not think it was an issue, saying "If they can do it, why not."
After the controversial semi-final against Poland, and reaching the final as a result, the practice was even more criticised, with players such as Danijel Šarić having now represented four different national teams.
Paid fans
Qatar flew in about 60 Spanish fans to cheer for Qatar during the 2015 World Championship.
Refereeing favouritism
The referees were widely accused of being one-sided in favour of Qatar during its biggest success, 2nd place in the 2015 World Championship. Especially at the last-16 encounter against Austria, the quarterfinal against Germany and the semi-final against Poland. After the final whistle, the Polish players showed their disgust by sarcastically applauding the three referees.
References
- "QHA announces national handball team squad for 2023 World Championship". olympic.qa. 2 August 2022.
- "Team Roster Qatar" (PDF). ihf.info. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- "QATAR STOPS NATURALIZING FOREIGN PLAYERS | HC Metalurg Official Website". 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015.
- "Player Eligibility Code" (PDF). ihf.info. International Handball Federation. p. 5. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
They shall not have played in any national team of another country in the three years preceding their first appearance in the national team in an official match.
- ^ "Qatar's foreign legion primed for handball date with Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- "Al Shaabi says no to further naturalisation". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ^ "Qatar handball team coach faces questions over foreign players". BBC News. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- "Danijel Sarić - to on "zabrał" Polakom finał MŚ". Onet Sport. 30 January 2015.
- "Qatar 'buys' noisy Spanish handball fans". thelocal.es. 16 January 2015.
- ^ Team, Fans und Schiris gekauft? (German)
- Handball-WM in Katar: Österreich hält sich für verpfiffen (German)
- Österreich von Referees und Katar aus WM gekickt (German)
- Reaktionen auf deutsches WM-Aus: "Man muss aufpassen, was man sagt" (German)
- WM-Aus der deutschen Handballer: "Im Schiedsrichterwesen gibt es Grauzonen" (German)
- Sramotno: Pogledajte trenutak kad su srpski suci pretjerali s navlačenjem za Katar (Croatian) Archived 1 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- Polský smutek. Katar je ve finále MS v házené, pomohli mu rozhodčí (Czech)
- Polska – Katar – czemu Katar awansował? Kontrowersje wokół drużyny gospodarzy, nie byli faworytami (Polish)
- Michał Jurecki: Każdy wie, co tutaj się dzieje... (Polish)
- "Polacy nagrodzili postawę sędziów ironicznymi brawami". Przegląd Sportowy. 30 January 2015.
External links
| Asian Handball Championship winners | |
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| Asian Games handball men's tournament winners | |
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| Men's national handball teams of Asia (AHF) | |
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| Western Asia | |
| Central Asia | |
| South Asia | |
| Southeast Asia | |
| East Asia | |
| Oceania |
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| Former |
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 National sports teams of Qatar | |
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