Xavi to take charge of Qatar national team soon?
After his departure as coach of Spanish football club FC Barcelona, Xavi Hernández has been without a job, remaining in Catalonia with his family.
However, his break from coaching could soon come to an end, with a potential return to the Middle East and Qatar, where he played for and later coached Al Sadd Club to great heights.
Talks are circulating in the football market that Xavi is currently in Qatar, negotiating a deal to take charge as coach of the Qatar national team.
Following his exit from Barcelona, Xavi had taken a year-long sabbatical, stating he had no immediate plans to return to coaching. However, the grapevine has it that those plans could be changing.
According to Qatari newspaper Al Raya, the Spaniard is in talks with Qatar Football Association officials about a potential appointment as head coach of the Qatar national team.
Currently, the team is managed by fellow Catalan Tintin Marquez. Although he helped the team retain their AFC Asian Cup title on home soil in 2023, the team has been struggling in recent times.
Qatar has managed only four points in its last four matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, placing it fourth in its group. Marquez is understood to be under tremendous pressure, and if dismissed, Xavi is seen as the top candidate to replace him.
Xavi is a highly-respected figure in Qatar thanks to the six years he spent there following his first departure from Barca as a player in 2015. Xavi coached Al Sadd for two years — from 2019 to 2021 — and helped them secure seven domestic titles during his reign.
He only left after Barca came knocking for him in late 2021, upon dismissing another Blaugrana midfield icon in Ronald Koeman.
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