Qatar forward Akram Afif says his side are capable of making more history at the 2026 World Cup after claiming their first ever point in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Switzerland.
Qatar fell behind to Breel Embolo's 17th-minute penalty and were heavily indebted to goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada for keeping them in the game.
Abunada's heroics saw him named man of the match and paid off spectacularly when his side equalised in stoppage time as a Qatari counter-attack culminated in Boualem Khoukhi heading home at the far post. Replays later showed decisive contact came from Swiss defender Miro Muheim.
After losing all three games as hosts in 2022, it was Qatar's first point at a global finals. And, with group games to come against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada, Afif says his side can follow up their first point with a maiden win.
“It was very difficult to play against the Swiss, a top national team,” said the Al Sadd forward, a two-time Asian Player of the Year. “They had more experience than us. Our aim was to play a long match, as long as we can and maybe score in the last minutes, maybe a counter attack, and that's what we did.
“It was very important to start with a positive result. One point is very important for us. Hopefully we can get three points in the next game. It won't be easy, but it wasn't easy today and we managed to get a point.
“What can we do better? We can win. It doesn't matter if we defend with 10 or defend with one. Most important is to get a positive result and we are very proud and happy with that.
“Our support was amazing. We are very thankful for them. It's a long trip, maybe 16 hours from our country. But we are very happy and hopefully we can get three points in the next game and make them even more happy.
“We are very proud of ourselves, first point in our history, and then next game maybe we can get three points and make double history.”
Best of 2026 World Cup - in pictures
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At the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, Qatar's goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada fouls Switzerland's Remo Freuler to give away a penalty. Reuters -
Qatar's Boualem Khoukhi puts the ball past Switzerland's Gregor Kobel for their first World Cup goal. Reuters -
Qatar fans cheer in the stands during the Fifa World Cup 2026 Group B match between Qatar and Switzerland in San Francisco, AFP -
Morocco's Ismael Saibari, centre, scores his team's first goal during the 2026 World Cup Group C match with Brazil at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. AFP -
Morocco's Ismael Saibari celebrates scoring their first goal. Reuters -
Brazil's Vinicius Jr equalises against Morocco. Reuters -
John McGinn of Scotland scores his team's first goal past Johny Placide of Haiti. The win was Scotland's first World Cup victory in 36 years. AFP -
Folarin Balogun of the US scores their third goal against Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California. Reuters -
South Korea's Oh Hyeon-gyu scores their second goal against Czech Republic at Guadalajara Stadium. Reuters -
Mexico's Raul Jimenez scores their second goal against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Reuters
Coach Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked by Spain for negotiating with Real Madrid days before the 2018 World Cup, finally got to manage in the competition. His shrewd game-plan came good as Qatar held the group's highest-ranked team at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
“It was already historic just being here,” said the Spanish coach. “To get a point today against Switzerland, who for me are one of the best teams in Europe right now – really solid, with continuity with their coach and top players from top leagues – is important.
“For that to happen, you need a set of circumstances like those today. We were able to survive difficult moments, we didn’t lose composure when behind, which was important, and at the end we got the reward with that goal which gave us that point which had never existed [for us].”
Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka said his side paid a heavy price for not getting a second goal.
“If you don't take your chances up front, they'll come back to bite you. Maybe we also lost a bit of patience and felt we absolutely had to score the second goal,” he said.
We have to be clever and experienced enough to see out a game at 1-0. We knew they were waiting for their moment. And they got it in the 94th minute. At the end of the second half we lost our rhythm and that can't happen at this level. Now we have to come back down to earth and grasp reality. And the reality is that, right now, we're nowhere near in a position to talk about a title or our best-ever World Cup.”
