Félix Sánchez Bas (born 13 December 1975) is a Spanish football coach. He is the current head coach of

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

side Al Sadd. Sánchez spent most of his career in Qatar, first with the national youth teams until being appointed to the senior team in 2017. His side won the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

and were semi-finalists at the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

. He left after their group-stage elimination in their hosting of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, and became manager of

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. Sánchez resigned as manager of Ecuador after they were eliminated in the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

quarter-finals.

Career

Early career

Originally an

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

youth coach, Sánchez moved to Qatar in 2006 and joined

Aspire Academy Aspire Academy () is a sports academy based in the Aspire Zone in Qatar, founded in 2004 with the goal to scout and help develop Qatari athletes, whilst also providing them with secondary school education. History Aspire Academy was establis ...

. In 2013, he was appointed coach of the Qatar under-19 side, winning the following year's

AFC U-19 Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

Qatar national team

On 3 July 2017, after a spell with the under-20s and under-23s, Sánchez replaced Jorge Fossati at the helm of the senior side. On his debut on 16 August, he won 1–0 against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

in a friendly at St George's Park in England. The side finished the year without

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, and were eliminated from the group stage of the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup. Sánchez led Qatar to the

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

title for the first time in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

tournament, having won all three group matches and knockout stage matches including a 3–1 win over

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, scoring 19 times and conceding only once. In May that year, he signed a new contract until the

, to be hosted by Qatar. Weeks later, the team were invitees to the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

in Brazil, being knocked out in the group. In December, at the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup on home soil, the side reached the semi-finals. Qatar were also invited to the

in the United States, where the hosts eliminated them 1–0 in the semi-finals. At the end of the year, his side made it to the semi-finals of the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

FIFA Arab Cup The FIFA Arab Cup (), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) ...

on home turf, eventually finishing third. In the

hosted by Qatar, the national team lost all their matches in Group A, to become the worst performing host nation in the history of the competition. His contract with Qatar expired on 31 December of the same year and was not renewed.

Ecuador national team

On 11 March 2023, Sánchez signed a four-year deal to be manager of the

Ecuador national football team The Ecuador national football team (), nicknamed ''La Tricolor'', represents Ecuador in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Ecuadorian Football Federation, Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol (). They join ...

. On his debut thirteen days later, the team lost 3–1 on his debut, a friendly with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. After losing against the Argentine soccer team on penalties 4-2 (a 1-1 draw in regulation time) in quarter-finals in the Copa America USA 2024, the

Ecuadorian Football Federation The Ecuadorian Football Federation ( or ) is the governing body of football in Ecuador. Its headquarters are in Quito, and it organizes the country's various football competitions and oversees the Ecuador national team. History Numerous amate ...

made his departure from the Ecuadorian team official, culminating nearly 20 months of being in the team.

Al Sadd

On 23 July 2024, Sánchez returned to Qatar after being announced as manager of Al Sadd; it was his first senior club experience.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Qatar U19 *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Qatar U23 *

AFC U-23 Championship The AFC U-23 Asian Cup, previously the AFC U-22 Championship (in 2013) and AFC U-23 Championship (between 2016 and 2020), is a biennial international football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 n ...

third place:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Qatar *

Al Sadd *

2024-25 A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

Qatar Cup The Qatar Cup (formerly known as Qatar Crown Prince Cup) is a tournament in men's football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), go ...

: 2025

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Felix 1975 births Living people Sports coaches from Barcelona Spanish football managers FC Barcelona non-playing staff Aspire Academy managers Qatar national football team managers Ecuador national football team managers Al Sadd SC managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 2019 AFC Asian Cup managers 2019 Copa América managers 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers AFC Asian Cup–winning managers 2022 FIFA World Cup managers 2024 Copa América managers Spanish football coaches Expatriate football managers in Ecuador