under the leadership of Sebastião Lapola, despite a 1–0 loss against Saudi Arabia in their final game. They were also named runners-up in the 1996 Gulf Cup. Qatar reached the Asian Zone's final qualifying round for France 1998. After wins against China and Iran, they played their last match against Saudi Arabia, where a victory would have earned qualification. However, they lost out as Saudi Arabia won 1–0 to reach the finals. As 1998 Arab Cup hosts, they finished runners-up to Saudi Arabia. 2000–2010 They made it to the quarter-finals of the 2000 Asian Cup despite finishing 3rd in their group, but lost to China in their quarter-final confrontation. They reached the final qualifying round again in 2001 but were defeated by Bora Milutinovic's China team, who topped the section to progress to their first FIFA World Cup. Frenchman Philippe Troussier took the manager's job after the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, but was unsuccessful in both the 2004 Asian Cup and the qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Troussier was sacked after the World Cup qualifying campaign, and under Bosnian Džemaludin Mušović, the team won the Gulf Cup in 2004 and the Asian Games gold in 2006. Mušović stepped down after Qatar only earned two points from three matches in the 2007 Asian Cup. The job of coaching the team in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup fell to Jorge Fossati, who led the team throughout the first and second AFC rounds up to the third round. After leaving them at the top of their group with only two played matches, Fossati had to undergo stomach surgery. Subsequently, the Qatar Football Association ended their cooperation with him in September 2008, as the QFA claimed he needed too long to recover from surgery. Bruno Metsu was called up for the job, but Qatar failed to qualify after finishing fourth in their qualifying group. 2010–2020 Qatar was announced as hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in December 2010. In 2011, as hosts of the 2011 Asian Cup, they advanced to the quarter-finals. They succumbed to a late 2–3 defeat to eventual champions Japan after a goal was scored by Masahiko Inoha in the 89th minute. Also as hosts, they went on to win the 2013 WAFF Championship after defeating Jordan 2–0 in the final. The competition was made up primarily of youth and reserve teams,