Dutchman Jo Bonfrere, who coached Nigeria to Olympic gold in August, led Qatar to a clean sweep in its World Cup ’98 qualifying series that kicked off the “Road to France” in Asia.
Group 10
Sept. 20 in Doha
Qatar 3 (Soufi 36, Al-Enazi 51, Mustafa 81) Sri Lanka 0. Half: 1-0. Att.:
1,500.
Sept. 21 in Doha
India 2 (Vijayan 81, Coutinho 86) Philippines 0. Half: 0-0. Att.: n/a.
Sept. 23 in Doha
Qatar 5 (Al-Enazi 18, 41, Soufi 27, Khamis 30, Aziz Hassan 37) Philippines 0. Half: 5-0. Att.: n/a.
Sept. 24 in Doha
Sri Lanka 1 India 1
Sept. 26 in Doha
Philippines 0 Sri Lanka 3
Sept. 27 in Doha
Qatar 6 (Al-Enazi 26, 39, Issa 41, Bakhit 46, Soufi 50, Mustafa 61) India 0. Half: 3-0. Att.: 2,500.
| Team | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | P |
| Qatar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| India | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Philippines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
(Qatar advances to second-round pool in second half of 1997.)