All you need to know about history of Syria football team

The Qasioun Eagles have a rich heritage backing their potent lineup.

The Indian football team are ready to kick off the Manolo Marquez era through participation in the upcoming 2024 Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad from September 3rd to September 9th. The Blue Tigers will face some intimidating competition in the short tournament and their biggest challenge is likely to be that from Syria.

Syria have emerged as a rising force from the Western Asian Football Federation and surprised many with their performances at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. They’ve earned a reputation for being a sturdy, stubborn defensive unit that can lodge surprises with their fast breaks and physicality during matches.

The Qasioun Eagles are the highest-ranked team at the Intercontinental Cup and have been playing international football since 1942. They have not been able to win any major silverware in the national team’s history, but have shown enough desire and progress to be taken as a team who are serious about their developmental work.

Major Achievements

Syria’s football team has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup an impressive seven times in their history and their best performance in the major tournament came in the recent edition. The Qasioun Eagles reached the Round of 16 after defeating India in the group stages, which allowed them to go through as one of the best third-place teams.

Syria nearly shocked Asian giants Iran, who had to defeat them in a penalty shootout to move onto the quarter-finals. The Qasioun Eagles have shown impressive resilience in their development in recent years, but they have very little actual silverware to boast about.

Syria have only won the WAFF Championship once in their history, which came in 2012. They won the FIFA Arab Games in 1957 and the Mediterranean Games once too. Syria have frequently competed in tournaments in India over the last decade as they finished in third place at the 2019 Intercontinental Cup. They also finished as runners-up in the 2007 and 2009 Nehru Cup.

The Qasioun Eagles are currently holding onto the 93 position in the FIFA World Rankings. Their highest-ever ranking in this measuring stick is when they reached the 68th position in the FIFA World Rankings back in 2018.

Syria’s all-time greatest and current biggest threats

Even though Syria haven’t had any players to have excelled for a major European or South American club in their careers, they have been blessed with some technically adept and quality players over the decades.

Syria’s all-time leading goal-scorer Firas Al-Khatib remains arguably their most notable player of all time, as he enjoyed a prolific international career and was known to be a goal machine in the domestic scene too. Al-Khatib scored 36 goals in 72 appearances for his national team, and he ended his domestic career with over 300 goals, even playing for Shanghai Shenhua in his career.

Syrian forward Raja Rafe also proved to be a prolific player for his national side and remains their second-highest goal-scorer of all time. He had 32 goals in 84 appearances for the national team and was known for his ruthless finishing skills that tormented teams from all over.

Syria are blessed to have a lot of experience in their squad for the Intercontinental Cup and a major threat is posed by their captain Omar Al Somah. The 35-year-old is among their highest active goal-scorers with 21 goals in 54 appearances for the Qasioun Eagles. He can be a major danger for the Indian backline because of his clever off-the-ball movement ability and smart close-range finishing too.

Alaa Al Dali is another unpredictable forward who has been making waves in his career. He recently joined Iranian side Chandormalu FC and has looked sharp in recent matches for Syria. The 27-year-old has four goals for his national team so far but scored 18 goals in 35 appearances last season – being a lethal finisher in the final third.

Mumbai City FC defender Thaer Krouma is also likely to face the Indian side in the Intercontinental Cup. The center-back has a lot of experience playing in India and knows how to operate against some of the Indian players he’s faced in the Indian Super League. Krouma is an efficient, bullish centre-half who can help Syria maintain their stubborn defensive shape.

Syria’s rivalries and record against India

Being a part of Western Asia, the Syria football team also shares an intense rivalry with some of its neighbouring countries or those in the same West Asia Football Federation as them. Due to historical reasons and past conflicts, Lebanon remains a major rival in football for the Qasioun Eagles too.

Syria boasts a pretty solid record against the Lebanese football team, having defeated them 15 times in 25 meetings and scoring 50 goals against them in competitive games. Syria’s derby against the Jordan football team has also grown in intensity over the years due to political reasons and historical conflict between the nations.

The Syrian football team has defeated Jordan 14 times in 43 matches but also lost on 15 occasions. The Qasioun Eagles have played India on seven occasions in their history, with all of the matches happening in the 21st century itself.

The first time that the Syria national football team met the Blue Tigers was in 2004 at the Nehru Cup when Syria picked up a thrilling 3-2 win.

In the seven games against India, the Qasioun Eagles have won three games and played out two draws, as well as losing two times. India will be hoping to get their third win over the Syrian football team at the Intercontinental Cup and get their revenge for losing in the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.