Qatar U20

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha holds around 15,000, and it is here that Qatar's under-20 side, known simply as Al-Shabab, does most of its work away from the senior team's shadow.

The side was set up in 1976, once FIFA had opened a World Youth Championship for the age group and national federations needed a team to send. Qatar reached the final of that tournament on its first real run of note, in 1981, losing 4-0 to West Germany.

It did, in 2014, beating North Korea 1-0 in the final of the AFC U-19 Championship under Félix Sánchez Bas. The goal that won it belonged to Akram Afif, who went on to captain the senior side and lift two Asian Cups with them; Almoez Ali, later Qatar's all-time top scorer, was part of the same generation coming through. That 2014 title is the one honour the age group has actually won, and it is remembered less for the trophy than for what it produced.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain remain the fixtures that matter most, Gulf derbies. Since 2014 the side has not gone further than a semi-final, reached at the 2018 Asian Cup, and the task now is the same one every cycle sets.