Félix Sánchez (football manager)

Félix Sánchez Bas (born 13 December 1975) is a Spanish football coach, who is the current coach of the Ecuador national football team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Sánchez and the second or maternal family name is Bas.

Félix Sánchez
Sánchez as Qatar manager in 2018
Personal information
Full name Félix Sánchez Bas[1]
Date of birth (1975-12-13) 13 December 1975
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Team information
Current team
 Ecuador (coach)
Managerial career
Years Team
1996–2006 Barcelona (youth)
2006–2013 Aspire Academy
2013–2017 Qatar U19
2017–2020 Qatar U23
2017–2022 Qatar
2023– Ecuador
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Qatar (as manager)
AFC U-19 Championship
Winner2014
AFC U-23 Championship
Bronze medal – third place2018
AFC Asian Cup
Winner2019
FIFA Arab Cup
Bronze medal – third place2021

He has 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 and were semi-finalists at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He left after their group-stage elimination in their hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and became manager of Ecuador.

Career

Qatar

An FC Barcelona youth coach, Sánchez moved to Qatar in 2006 and joined Aspire Academy.[2] In 2013, he was appointed coach of the Qatar under-19 side, winning the following year's AFC U-19 Championship.

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.[3] On his debut on 16 August, he won 1–0 against Andorra in a friendly at St George's Park in England.[4] The side finished the year without qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup,[5] and were eliminated from the group stage of the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup.[6]

Sánchez led Qatar to the AFC Asian Cup title for the first time in 2019 tournament, having won all three group matches and knockout stage matches including a 3–1 win over Japan in the final, scoring 19 times and conceding only once.[7] In May that year, he signed a new contract until the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by Qatar.[8] Weeks later, the team were invitees to the 2019 Copa América in Brazil, being knocked out in the group.[9] In December, at the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup on home soil, the side reached the semi-finals.[10]

Qatar were also invited to the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States, where the hosts eliminated them 1–0 in the semi-finals.[11] At the end of the year, his side made it to the semi-finals of the inaugural FIFA Arab Cup on home turf,[12] eventually finishing third.[13] In the 2022 FIFA World Cup 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.[14]

Ecuador

On 11 March 2023, Sánchez signed a four-year deal to be manager of the Ecuador national football team.[15] On his debut thirteen days later, the team lost 3–1 on his debut, a friendly with Australia in Sydney.[16]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 18 October 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
PWDLWin %
Qatar U19 1 July 2013 30 June 2015 10 9 1 0 090.0
Qatar U20 1 January 2014 2 July 2017 12 2 2 8 016.7
Qatar U23 3 July 2017 28 December 2020 32 10 9 13 031.3
Qatar 3 July 2017 31 December 2022 89 46 16 27 051.7
Ecuador 11 March 2023 Present 8 5 1 2 062.5
Total 151 72 29 50 047.7 —

Honours

Qatar U19

Qatar U23

Qatar

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Qatar" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 26. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. "Fèlix Sánchez, de la cantera culé a la catarí" [Fèlix Sánchez, from the culé to the Qatari youth setup]. Sport (in Spanish). 27 November 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  3. "Felix Sanchez replaces Jorge Fossati as Qatar coach". Goal. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  4. "Qatar defeat Andorra 1-0 in friendly". Al Bawaba. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  5. "China out of 2018 World Cup despite winning in Qatar". South China Morning Post. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  6. "BRAVO BAHRAIN! Qatar knocked out of Gulf Cup after 1-1 draw". GDN Online. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. "Qatar stun Japan with 3-1 win to be crowned Asian Cup champions". The Guardian. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  8. "Félix Sánchez renueva como seleccionador de Qatar hasta el Mundial" [Félix Sánchez renews as Qatar national team manager until the World Cup]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 6 May 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  9. "Sergio Agüero guides Argentina past Qatar to reach Copa América last eight". The Guardian. 23 June 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  10. Aziz, Saba (9 December 2019). "Arabian Gulf Cup: Football, blockade and an 'historic' win". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  11. "Gyasi Zardes' late strike lifts US over Qatar into record 12th Gold Cup final". The Guardian. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  12. "Qatar 1 Algeria 2 - Highlights". beIN Sports. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  13. McAuley, John (18 December 2021). "Qatar seal third place at Fifa Arab Cup with shootout joy against Egypt in Doha". The National. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  14. Jacob Whitehead (30 December 2022). "Qatar part company with coach Felix Sanchez after World Cup failure". The Athletic.
  15. "Ecuador appoint former Qatar coach Sanchez as manager". Reuters. 12 March 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  16. "Man City's Robertson becomes third generation of family to play for Australia". The Hindu. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
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