Julen Lopetegui finally bound for World Cup with Qatar, eight years after Spain axe | OneFootball

Julen Lopetegui will lead Qatar at the 2026 World Cup, eight years to the day after his shock Spain dismissal. His side open against Switzerland in San Francisco on Saturday at 21.00.

El Periódico Mediterráneo reports that Lopetegui was removed by then RFEF president Luis Rubiales on 13 June 2018, two days before Spain’s Russia 2018 opener with Portugal, with Fernando Hierro stepping in and the team exiting early.

After a brief stint at Real Madrid and spells with Sevilla, Wolverhampton and West Ham, he returned to international management in 2025 with Qatar. The emirate qualified on the pitch for the expanded tournament, its second World Cup after hosting in 2022.

He has said life felt as if it owed him a World Cup and that he has finally reached one. Technically it is not his first finals, having been Andoni Zubizarreta’s understudy in 1994 in the United States without playing. Qatar’s opener also falls on 13 June, a date he recalls unhappily.

Lopetegui has underlined how hard qualifying can be, particularly for Qatar, and says they have already made history yet want to extend the dream.

Preparation was complicated by conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, with caution advised and three friendlies against Sudan, Argentina and Serbia cancelled. Ramadan then forced a three-week pause in training.

Qatar are in Group B with Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada, with the Swiss favoured to top the section. They lost all three matches at their home World Cup in 2022 and this season have five wins, six draws and 10 defeats from 21 games.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo