Sport in Qatar is primarily centred on football in terms in participation and spectators. Additionally, athletics, basketball, handball, volleyball, camel racing, horse racing, cricket and swimming are also widely practised. There are currently eleven multi-sports clubs in the country, and seven single-sports clubs.

The largest sporting event hosted in Qatar was the 2006 Asian Games, hosted in Doha. There were 46 disciplines from 39 events contested. On 2 December 2010, Qatar won the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, thus becoming the first Arab nation to host the tournament.[2]

Qatar World Cup 2022 is set to be the 22nd edition of the quadrennial international men’s football championship, which will be contested by national teams from FIFA member countries. It will take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, 2022.

Football is by far the most popular sport in Qatar, and is played and supported by locals and expatriates alike. The country has two tiers of domestic professional football leagues. The top tier, known as the Qatar Stars League, has undergone numerous expansions in the last several years. In 2009, the league expanded from ten to twelve clubs, and again expanded by two clubs in May 2013, bringing the total number of teams in the first division to fourteen. Attendance at QSL matches ranges between 2,000 and 10,000, depending on the popularity of the teams. In a 2014 survey conducted by Qatari government ministries and departments, 65% of the 1,079 respondents indicated that they did not attend a football match in the previous league season.

Al Sadd is the most successful sports club in the country, and have won the continental club competition on two separate occasions. Former Real Madrid and Spain striker Raul Gonzalez played for Al Sadd between 2012 and 2014, and in July 2015 the club announced the signing of former FC Barcelona and Spain playmaker Xavi. In May 2019, Xavi was appointed the head coach of the club following his retirement at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Other famous footballers to play in Qatar include: Pep Guardiola, Gabriel Batistuta, Fernando Hierro, and Ronald de Boer.

Qatar is gearing set to host FIFA World Cup, and the peninsula has the potential to host a World Cup unlike any other. It will be the smallest country ever to have the worldwide finals, for one, permitting guests to explore the nation with ease and indeed arrange for observing different matches on the same day. Qatar has also spent recent years constructing some of the most eco-friendly and architecturally advanced sporting facilities ever seen. All will be on show to the world as the greatest show on earth finally lands in the Middle East.