How did Qatar arrive on the soccer landscape, and how has the Stars League been impacted by Saudi Arabia?
Soccer 101
TSS
4.9 • 822 Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, we’re unpacking the Qatari Stars League — what it is, how it works, and how it’s evolved. We run through the league’s biggest clubs and current powerhouse, the stars who’ve defined it, and what the overall level of play actually looks like compared to the rest of the Gulf and Asia. We also dig into how the league fuels the national team and what all of this means for Qatar’s chances at the 2026 World Cup.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome, everybody to Soccer 101. |
| 0:17.0 | My name is Taylor Rockwell, and I'm very excited to be here. I'm always excited to record 101, but I'm especially excited to record 101 when we're talking about the domestic leagues of countries that have qualified for the World Cup. There are many. We will probably not end up getting to all of them, but Graham Ruffin, we are at the very least getting to Qatar today. |
| 0:39.0 | That's right. And I know, Taylor, you're super excited for this episode where we have to pretend |
| 0:43.2 | this whole thing isn't about sports washing somehow. And like, yeah, yeah, I don't know if you've |
| 0:48.5 | heard of this thing. It's kind of a big deal. Is it? Is it? Is it? Is it? Yeah, that's right. |
| 0:57.1 | Did they get like a World Cup or something in totally legitimate fashion? |
| 0:57.8 | That's it. |
| 0:59.0 | Yeah, I think that's what happened. |
| 1:02.1 | There were no question marks against that tournament at all. |
| 1:12.0 | And I mean, that is an interesting part of this entire episode is how Qatar made such a big deal of hosting that World Cup where they built up for that tournament, quite literally built up the country to host that tournament. |
| 1:16.4 | Well, they did, but other people did, yeah. |
| 1:18.0 | Yes, that is true. |
| 1:19.7 | That is an important clarification. |
| 1:20.7 | And now kind of feels in their whole sports washing journey, feels a bit directionless. |
| 1:27.6 | And that extends to what's going on with the Qatar Stars League, which is the name of the |
| 1:32.0 | Domestic League in Qatar. |
| 1:33.3 | Yes. |
| 1:34.0 | It is a really fascinating league. |
| 1:36.5 | It's a really fascinating country. |
| 1:38.0 | And I think there's a lot of really interesting geopolitical history that factors into the league itself, into that World Cup, and into their |
| 1:46.9 | kind of programs for expansion and growth in sport, such as they are. |
| 1:51.9 | I would say they are less strong than they were maybe a couple years ago when they were |
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