Association football is the most popular sport in Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

, closely followed by cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

.

Their greatest achievement of the Qatari national team is winning the Gulf Cup twice, first in 1992 and again in 2004. The Youth team also reached the final of the World Youth Championship

1981 FIFA World Youth Championship

The 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship, the third edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in Australia from 3 to 18 October 1981. The tournament took place in six venues—where a total of 32 matches were played...

 in 1981 where they lost 4-0 to West Germany in the final.

Al Sadd are the most successful club team in the country with 14 league titles.

Qatar hosted the Asian Cup in 1988

1988 AFC Asian Cup

The Asian Football Confederation's 1988 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar between December 2 and December 18. Saudi Arabia defeated Republic of Korea in the final match in Doha.-Qualification:...

 and in 2011

2011 AFC Asian Cup

The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7–29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup...

. It has also hosted the Gulf Cup twice.

The largest Sporting event hosted in Qatar was the 2006 Asian Games hosted in Doha. There were 46 disciplines from 39 events contested. The Games were marred by the death of South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n equestrian rider Kim Hyung-chil

Kim Hyung-chil

Kim Hyung-chil was a South Korean horse rider. He was a silver medalist in the three day team event at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, and was the oldest member of South Korea's equestrian team...

 in a fatal accident during competition.

In December 2010 it was announced that Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup

2022 FIFA World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in 2022 in Qatar. The competition is scheduled to take place in June and July, although proposals have been made for a winter season. The tournament will involve...

.