29 May 2017
Prague, 29 May 2017. Qatar boys football team (made up of Aspire Academy U-18 players) were crowned champions at the 19th ISF World Schools Championship in Prague, Czech Republic after defeating Germany (represented by players of Energie Cottbus Academy ) 2-1 in the final.
Qatar went to the half time break trailing 1-0 to a strike from Felgentrager Leo on 18th minute. The Qataris equalized immediately upon resumption of play courtesy of a Nasser Abdulsalam al-Ahrak goal before Yusuf Abdurisag scored the winner in the 52nd minute.
In the semi-finals, Qatar had beaten Austria (represented by Sturm Graz Academy) 2-0, while in the quarter-finals, they overcame New Zealand 1-0. Thirty-six teams were divided into six groups, with the top two from each group entering the knock-out stages. Qatar finished second in Group B behind France. Qatar’s results in the groups stages were as following - Qatar beat Belgium 2-1, Greece 2-0 and Finland 4-0, drew with Slovenia 1-1 and lost to France 3-1. At the end of the group matches, Qatar were tied with Greece on 10 points, but qualified for the knockouts thanks to a favourable head-to-head record.
The Championship, which is also held for girls concurrently, was organised by the International School Sport Federation and Czech School Sport Federation. Boys and girls from 24 countries, including Brazil, Armenia, India, New Zealand, Germany and France gathered together not only to compete, but also to learn from each other, meet new cultures and make international friendships. The International School Sport Federation encourages and promotes ‘education through sport”. The main values of World Schools Championships are friendship, fair play and youth. Each year, more than 1000 young people are trained and get involved in the World Schools Championships organised by ISF and its members.