At the time of being awarded the tournament, Qatar were ranked 113 in the world, and had never qualified for the World Cup before. The furthest the team had ever progressed in the AFC Asian Cup was to the quarter-finals in 2000 (repeated in 2011, as hosts; champions in 2019). The most prestigious accolade the team had won was the Arabian Gulf Cup twice, both times hosting (won once again in 2014, in Saudi Arabia). Qatar will be the smallest country to host the World Cup (smaller than 1954 hosts Switzerland) and, as of 2010, had a permanent population of less than one million people, less than the 1.7 million population of Uruguay in 1930, when they hosted the tournament. These facts led some to question the strength of football culture in Qatar and if that made them unsuitable World Cup hosts.