We didn’t plan to reach the last 16: Sanchez

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said yesterday his team were never targeting a place in the knockout phase after defeat by the Netherlands left the hosts without a point in the World Cup.

The home side finished rock bottom of Group A after a 2-0 loss at the Al Bayt Stadium, having already joined South Africa in 2010 as the only hosts to be dumped out at the first hurdle.

“We’re a country with 6,000 football licences so this was a likely situation,” said Sanchez when asked if he ever thought Qatar would get through the group.

“We never thought at any time to set a target of reaching the last 16 or the quarter-finals. “We just wanted to come here and see what we could do. We managed to play two good games against Senegal and the Netherlands. The first game (against Ecuador) we weren’t at our usual level and we know that.

“You can use statistics how you want but we need to make our own assessments.”

Qatar came into the tournament as continental champions after winning the 2019 Asian Cup, but never seriously threatened to pull off any surprise results. Sanchez, who has been in charge since 2017, said he would wait to decide whether or not to stay on as coach.

“I’m not sure about my future to be honest... We just have to reflect on this. We haven’t thought anything in particular abut the future.”

The win sent the Dutch through as group winners, along with Senegal.