the-afc.com Doha: After leading the Islamic Republic of Iran at three consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments, Carlos Queiroz is now focused on helping Qatar defend their AFC Asian Cup ™ title and guiding the Gulf state through to the Finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He talks to the-AFC.com about his new role and his plans for the future. With a resume like that possessed by Carlos Queiroz it would be tempting to relax a little and wind down towards retirement. But as the Portuguese coach approaches half a century in the game, ambition still burns bright as he settles into his latest job with a renewed sense of purpose. The former Real Madrid and Portugal head coach, who has worked in the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Japan in a globe-trotting career that included two spells as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United, celebrated his 70th birthday in March, soon after signing on to replace Felix Sanchez at the helm of the Qatar national team. After the high of winning the AFC Asian Cup in the UAE in 2019 was followed by a trio of deflating performances when the country hosted the FIFA World Cup finals late last year, the Maroons are in need of reinvigoration and rejuvenation. It is the type of role Queiroz relishes, and one which he hopes will allow him to add to a personal legacy that has seen the Mozambique-born former goalkeeper steer a succession of nations through qualifying for the FIFA World Cup. “My relationship with the Qatar authorities has been very close and friendly and I had a sense of gratitude for everything they did to support me, it was special,” he says. “So when this opportunity came and the authorities and the federation invited me to take this project I didn’t hesitate, not even one second." “There were two reasons: with this project I still keep alive my professional dream to be able to qualify five national teams for the World Cup. I tried that with Egypt (where Queiroz worked from September 2021 until June 2022) and it was not possible. “But in life, every time we don’t succeed or don’t get our goals it’s a new avenue that’s open. And that’s what has happened. This was mainly what excited me, this adventure. “The second reason, and also the most important, is that I follow in the last 13 years the football development of Qatar, everything this country is delivering and supporting and helping and investing in football all over the world." “The goal and the dream to qualify Qatar for the first time for the World Cup and to defend the title of the Asian Cup. “When I put those two pieces together it is the right explosive combination with my enthusiasm and belief and hope to be able to put on the pitch 45 years of my experience and really serve the goals and the dreams of the Qatar federation and the people to qualify the team for the first World Cup. “The last time was not a qualification, it was the consequence of hosting the World Cup. In simple words I would say the QFA has built up the opportunity to organise one World Cup in Qatar and it has opened up the door for one group of players to play at a World Cup. “Now it’s our turn to reward the Qatar federation and deliver the first World Cup qualification in our time, to get out on the pitch and deliver at that level and deliver to the country that dream and that goal.” Should Queiroz achieve his target and guide Qatar to the Finals, the Gulf nation will be added to the four other national teams he has successfully steered through the challenge of qualification: South Africa in 2002, his native Portugal in 2010 and the Iranians, in 2014 and 2018. The continent’s preliminary rounds for 2026 begin in October while Qatar’s challenge will kick off the following month, but plotting a route along the path to the FIFA World Cup is only one of several items on Queiroz’s agenda. Later this month, he will take the country to the Finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup as an invited nation, while one eye will no doubt be focusing on Qatar’s hosting of the AFC Asian Cup in January next year. Qatar go into the tournament as champions after storming to victory in spectacular fashion in 2019, blowing away four-time champions Japan in the final in Abu Dhabi to set down an impressive marker three years before the hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Those expectations, however, went unrealised with Qatar dropping out of their home Finals at the end of the group phase, and Queiroz knows one of his first tasks is to rebuild confidence and belief within a talented but downbeat squad. “In my honest opinion it’s a simple observation that they hit a peak in 2019 winning the Asian Cup,” he says. “It is debatable that it was too soon, too early. First of all, when we win something like the Asian Cup that title is always welcome. It doesn’t matter when or how. “There was a long time between 2019 and November 2022 and I believe – it’s my personal opinion – it was the first time they had played at a World Cup, they were playing at home and it’s not easy. Especially when I believe the expectations that they had around the team were too much. “When the first game came I don’t think really, the fans or the media in Qatar really had that sense of competing in a World Cup environment. It’s one thing to play friendly games or in the Copa America as an outsider, but it’s another thing that’s completely different when things really matter. “Playing in a World Cup is a difficult thing for any team, in Argentina, in Brazil or in Qatar. When it’s your first World Cup, it’s your first step. And to do it at home it’s a giant step. If you put this all together I think the boys did it respectfully, as much as it was possible. “The results, of course, were not the ones that the expectations created but if you put football in the realistic pattern then I don't support the idea that Qatar’s performance was disappointing. Of course, everyone wants to be better, everyone wants results but I think the team did what was possible under the circumstances. “But for me as a coach the worst part about that participation was not what happened during the World Cup, it was the outcome of what happened after the World Cup. The players finished with their pride down, their self-esteem down, with the team losing its reputation and credibility. “That’s what I found when I arrived and what was clear in my mind when I arrived is that my first step is to take from the ashes the players, the team, the pride and reputation and belief and hope. This is exactly where I start everything in my journey serving the Qatar Football Association.” Queiroz has chosen to rest many of the nation’s highest profile players for friendlies against Jamaica and New Zealand, working instead with a largely inexperienced selection as he seeks to develop greater depth within a squad that has often relied on the same small group of players throughout the last five years. For Qatar to build on the success achieved over that period, Queiroz wants his players to face up to the current reality before going on to reestablish the nation as a leader within Asian football. “It’s very simple,” he says. “I use the main principle of my life and my main principle of football: don’t lie to yourself. Don't lie to the game, don’t lie to football. “I have introduced to them the real standards of international football and make them understand where we are and where we stand and where we should go. If you don't lie to football and you understand where you are and are realistic about the world where you live and where you want to be and the expectations you have in front of you then it’s simple. “We will find the way to work in front of us. We have the journey of changes that we need to implement and we will find the right attitude that we should need, and that is to have an innovative mindset. “It’s not a situation where we stand and complain, it’s a state of mind when you have that clear vision between where you are and where you want to be. Qatar is a unique country and you need unique solutions, you need a unique approach. I do believe that we need to think outside the box to constantly improve. “If we copy England, if we copy Portugal, if we don’t use our creativity and our ability to think, to use innovation and if we stand behind solutions implemented in Europe and we copy them we will not be able to improve constantly and close the gap between Qatar and other countries. “My goal is to work hard on these innovative solutions in order to be the best team in Asia. We cannot challenge the competitive environment of Europe or South America if we’re not one of the best teams in Asia. That’s our first step. “When we’re able to do that then we will be ready to be a competitor in international football, then we can be consistent and then we can be solid.”