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Next month's football friendly between Russia, Qatar to count towards FIFA rankings

Russia will play against Qatar on September 7 at the 15,000-seat capacity Al Sadd stadium, the Russian Football Union’s press office said

MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. The friendly football match between the national teams of Russia and Qatar next month will be officially registered by the world’s governing body of football, FIFA, the Russian Football Union’s (RFU) press office reported on Wednesday.

"The match between Russia and Qatar will be included in the FIFA Ranking," according to the RFU’s statement.

Russia will play against Qatar on September 7 at the 15,000-seat capacity Al Sadd stadium. Three days earlier, on September 4, Russia will play a friendly match at home against Jordan.

The Russian team previously played against Qatar in September 2023, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. That match, along with two others that same September against Greece, did not count toward the FIFA Ranking.

The Qatari national football team is currently 53rd in the FIFA Rankings and Russia is 35th. The Russian side has not won any matches over Qatar in the 21st century. The only time Russia outplayed Qatar was in 1996 (5-2). Their other encounters ended in two draws and one Russian loss.

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

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