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Qatar, the hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will test their readiness for the tournament in a friendly against Bulgaria at the Education City Stadium on Saturday.
This will be the first game of the year for the hosts, who last featured in the FIFA Arab Cup in December. Being the hosts for the FIFA World Cup this year, they didn't compete in qualifiers, instead playing out 11 friendly games last year.
Bulgaria, meanwhile, finished fourth in Group C of the European qualifiers, failing to make it to the FIFA World Cup finals for the sixth time in a row.
Qatar vs Bulgaria Head-to-Head
The two teams have squared off just once. That was in a friendly game at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in 1988. The game ended in a 3-2 win for Bulgaria, with Hristo Stoichov scoring the winner for the Lions.
Qatar form guide (all competitions): W-L-W-W-W.
Bulgaria form guide (all competitions): L-D-W-L-W.
Qatar vs Bulgaria Team News
Qatar
A 23-man squad was called up by manager Felix Coach for the two friendly games this month. All players have reported to training and are in contention to start.
Captain Hassan Al Haydos and midfielder Abdulaziz Hatem were left out of the squad due to injuries. Al Haydos is nursing an adductor muscle injury, while Hatem underwent knee surgery recently.
Injured: Hassan Al Haydos, Abdulaziz Hatem.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Bulgaria
Yasen Petrov has called up 25 players for the two games scheduled to take place in Qatar. As of Thursday, the visitors have not reported any injuries or suspensions.
Injuries: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspensions: None.
Unavailable: None.
Qatar vs Bulgaria Predicted XIs
Qatar Predicted XI (3-5-2): Yousuf Hassan (GK); Tarek Salman, Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan; Pedro Miguel, Assim Madibo, Mohammed Waad, Bassam Al Rawi, Abdullah Al Ahrak; Almoez Ali, Akram Afif.
Bulgaria Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Nikolay Mihaylov (GK); Andrea Hristov, Kristian Dimitrov, Alex Petkov, Vasil Bozhikov; Radoslav Kirilov, Ivaylo Chochev; Kiril Despodov, Martin Minchev, Ilian Iliev; Atanas Iliev.
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Qatar vs Bulgaria Team Prediction
Qatar enjoyed a decent run in 2021, losing five of their 11 friendly games, especially against the European teams. Bulgaria, meanwhile, had just two wins to their name in eight games in the World Cup qualifiers. This will be their first game of the year, so they could struggle here.
The Maroon should be able to eke out a narrow win in front of their home fans.
Prediction: Qatar 2-1 Bulgaria.
