Qatar improves record after winning 15-0 against Bhutan

Qatar recorded their biggest ever victory in international football on Thursday, thrashing Bhutan 15-0 in an AFC Group C World Cup qualifier match in Doha.

The result smashed Qatar's previous high of 8-0, which they had recorded against both Afghanistan and Lebanon in the 1980s.

The victory also maintained their 100 percent start to their World Cup campaign after two matches and pushed Qatar into second place in Group C behind Hong Kong, who they meet in a crucial fixture next Tuesday.

"I wouldn't have expected we would score 15," admitted Qatar coach Jose Daniel Carreno afterwards.

"The first goal was the most important. After three goals we were trying to score the highest number of goals because they will be important at the end of the group."

Forwards Mohammed Muntari and Ali Asad each scored hat-tricks with others chipping in including right back Mohammed Musa who bagged two goals.

Qatar could even afford to miss a soft penalty awarded in the 62nd minute and several easy chances.

Given the scoreline it was somewhat bizarre that Bhutan forced the first chance and corner inside seven minutes.

But that was as good as it got for the team beaten 7-0 and 6-0 in their first two games.

By the eighth minute Qatar had taken the lead through Musa after the defender, pushing forward, found himself in acres of space on the right-wing.

Bhutan's virtually non-existent left-hand side of defence was to prove fertile ground for Qatar.

The home side exploited that channel continuously and by the 28th minute were 5-0 ahead, after Musa added his second.

By that stage he had been joined on the scoresheet by Mohammed Kasola, Asad, with possibly the best goal of the evening rounding off a fine team move, and the skipper Hasan Al Haydos.

By half-time it was 8-0 and the only real question for the second half was when they would beat their scoring record, which they duly did three minutes after the break when Mohammed Muntari finished with the Bhutan defence again nowhere to be seen.

From then it was simply a question of how many goals the home side would score.

Qatar reached double figures through midfielder Abdulrahman in the 56th minute.

The evening was rounded off by Boualem waltzing round a static defence to make it 15-0 with three minutes to go.

The only consolation for Bhutan was that this was not their record defeat. They were once beaten 20-0 by Kuwait.

"We have to train, train, train," said a surprisingly upbeat Bhutan coach Norio Tsukitate afterwards.

"I think we will improve, I hope we will improve."

Crowd of 2,022

To round off a perfect evening for Qatar, the two teams above them in the group at the start of play, Hong Kong and China, shared a 0-0 draw in Beijing earlier on Thursday.

"This is in our favour because the two teams have lost two points," said Carreno. "I think China is going to suffer from losing the points even more."

The match, somewhat ironically given Qatar will host the World Cup finals after Russia, was watched by a crowd at the Al-Sadd Stadium of 2,022.

Qatar are aiming to avoid becoming the first nation since Italy in 1934 to host the World Cup without ever having played in the finals.

They won their first game 1-0 in the Maldives [AFP]