Qatar will back Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid, says al-Thawadi

Qatar will back Morocco’s bid for the 2026 World Cup, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) Secretary General Hassan al-Thawadi has said.Morocco is competing against a joint bid from the US, Mexico and Canada to host the event four years after Qatar hosts the first-ever FIFA World Cup in the Arab world.“We support Morocco’s bid and will extend any support if needed. They do have a strong competitor in USA, Canada and Mexico. However, we believe that Morocco has the capacity to host the major event as they have made a bid earlier too,” al-Thawadi was quoted as saying by football website www.goal.com.“The manner in which the decision is taken has now changed. Now it is the general assembly (FIFA Congress) which decides. The success of the Moroccan bid will further extend the transformative power within the Arab region. It will have a stabilising effect on the region. Together with 2022, this will be the biggest moment in Arab world’s history,” he added.Morocco had bid for the World Cup four times without success before.FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said that Morocco is “capable, in terms of infrastructure and organisation, of hosting a World Cup.”The decision on the 2026 hosts is likely to be made in Moscow on June 13 next year.Al-Thawadi also said that he would personally like Spain and Barcelona legend Xavi to coach Qatar.In a recent interview, Xavi had announced his decision to quit playing at the end of the current season and also expressed his desire to be a coach.“Over the years, former footballers have become fantastic coaches like Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte and so on. I believe you have to have a certain character to be a top coach and I believe Xavi has that,” said al-Thawadi.“With the qualities that he has, I have no doubts that he should be a coach. Moving on to whether he should be the coach of Qatar or not, I would like him to be the national team coach. However, I must add that I do not have the authority to decide that. It’s not in my hands,” he added.