Sebastián Soria

Andrés Sebastián Soria Quintana (; ; born 8 November 1983) commonly known as Sebastián Soria, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar. Born in Uruguay, he has represented the Qatar national team since 2007. He was shortlisted for the Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2008. He currently holds the record for the fastest goal scored in AFC Champions League history at 9 seconds – a record which was set in 2013 when he was playing for Lekhwiya SC.

Club career

Early career As a youngster, Soria had an unsuccessful trial at Uruguayan club Defensor Sporting in Montevideo.

Al Gharafa Soria joined Al Gharafa in 2004 under the supervision of Bruno Metsu. It was the first time he had played outside of Uruguay. He won the 2004–05 Qatar Stars League with Al Gharafa.

Qatar SC Soria transferred to Qatar SC from league winners Al Gharafa in 2005. In 2006, he won the Qatar Stars League's inaugural "Best Player of the Year" award. He won the Qatar Crown Prince Cup with Qatar SC in 2009.

He attracted interest from Europe, with Italian team Udinese and Spanish capital sides Getafe and Atlético Madrid scouting him. However, he chose to extend his contract with Qatar SC in 2010.

When AC Milan came to visit Doha in March 2009, in a farewell match for Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari, Soria guested for Al Sadd. "They invited me to play for Al Sadd, so of course I said yes. I like to play against the strong defenders," Soria said after his scuffles with Milan defender Philippe Senderos. After being substituted, Soria was swarmed by local fans and patiently signed autographs for approximately 15 minutes. It is the fastest goal ever scored in Asia's premier continental club competition during the AFC Champions League format.

Al Rayyan, Al-Arabi and return to Qatar SC Soria joined Al-Rayyan SC on a one-year deal in 2015, but went on to represent the club for five seasons. He later joined Al-Arabi for the 2020–21 season, before returning to Qatar SC.

International career Sebastián Soria is the sixth highest scorer (39) and one of the most capped players (123) of the Qatar national team. Soria was born and raised in Paysandú, but moved to Qatar early in his footballing career and became a naturalized citizen. He won a gold medal in the 2006 Asian Games for the Qatar U-23 team. The official Qatar SC website has him listed as being born in 1984. In addition, QFA's website lists his actual date of birth as 1983.

Soria saved the Qatari national team by scoring in the last 20 minutes, which helped tie the score. This happened in the AFC 2007 in both their games, one against Japan and the other against Vietnam. He also scored the leading goal against the United Arab Emirates. He is the only Qatari player to score in the 2007 Asian Cup. He scored three goals.

Soria scored a goal against eventual winners Japan in the 2011 Asian Cup quarterfinals, but the home side were silenced after a late goal from Inoha put Japan in the lead to win by a 3–2 margin. However, he was not included in Djamel Belmadi's squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

In October 2025, eight years after his last appearance for Qatar, coach Julen Lopetegui called up Soria to prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Oman and United Arab Emirates. He came in as a late substitute against United Arab Emirates as Qatar won 2–1 and qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

On 12 May 2026, Soria was named to Qatar's 34-man preliminary squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, he was excluded from the 26-man squad for the tournament.

Career statistics Club

International . Competition Appearances Goals Pan Arab Games 1 0 Asian Cup 7 4 Asian Cup Qualifier 7 2 Arabian Gulf Cup 13 0 FIFA World Cup qualifiers 39 10 Friendlies 57 (6) 23 (4) Total 124 39 Notes: Values between brackets refer to matches/goals which are not considered full A-internationals.

International goals Scores and results list Qatar's goal tally first. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition – 24 November 2006 Doha, Qatar China Team XI 1–0 2–0 Unofficial friendly – 24 November 2006 Doha, Qatar China Team XI 2–0 2–0 Unofficial friendly – 19 June 2007 Ascheim Ghana U-21 3–1 3–1 Unofficial friendly 1. 9 July 2007 Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam 1–1 1–1 2007 AFC Asian Cup 2. 12 July 2007 Mỹ Đình National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam 1–1 1–1 2007 AFC Asian Cup 3. 16 July 2007 Quân khu 7 Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 1–0 1–2 2007 AFC Asian Cup 4. 16 October 2007 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–1 3–2 Friendly 5. 21 October 2007 Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 6. 28 October 2007 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 5–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 7. 4–0 8. 4 March 2008 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 1–2 Friendly 9. 16 March 2008 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–1 Friendly 10. 23 May 2008 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–1 1–1 Friendly 11. 27 May 2008 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–1 2–1 Friendly 12. 2–1 13. 7 June 2008 Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin, China 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 14. 20 August 2008 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–0 5–0 Friendly 15. 10 September 2008 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 1–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – 30 December 2008 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–1 5–2 Unofficial friendly 16. 21 March 2009 Aleppo International Stadium, Aleppo, Syria 1–0 2–1 Friendly 17. 2–0 18. 8 October 2009 Stadion Kantrida, Rijeka, Croatia 2–2 2–3 Friendly 19. 16 December 2010 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–1 Friendly 20. 22 December 2010 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–0 Friendly 21. 21 January 2011 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 2–3 2011 AFC Asian Cup 22. 11 November 2011 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 4–0 4–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 23. 3 June 2012 Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut, Lebanon 1–0 1–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 24. 6 September 2012 Audi Sportpark, Ingolstadt, Germany 1–2 1–2 Friendly 25. 7 November 2012 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–0 2–1 friendly 26. 14 November 2012 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 1–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 27. 9 September 2013 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–1 1–1 Friendly 28. 13 October 2013 Thani bin Jassim Stadium, Doha, Qatar 6–0 6–0 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 29. 15 November 2013 Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates 1–0 4–1 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification 30. 6 October 2014 Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 3–0 Friendly 31. 24 March 2016 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 2–0 2–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 32. 18 August 2016 Swissporarena, Luzern, Switzerland 1–0 3–2 Friendly 33. 2–1 34. 3–2 35. 29 September 2016 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 3–0 Friendly 36. 2–0 37. 3–0 38. 6 October 2016 Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, South Korea 2–1 2–3 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 39. 17 January 2017 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar 1–0 1–1 Friendly

Honours Club Al Gharafa Qatar Stars League: 2004–05 Sheikh Jassem Cup: 2005

Qatar SC Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2009

Lekhwiya Qatar Stars League: 2013–14, 2014–15 Qatar Cup: 2013, 2015

Al Rayyan Qatar Stars League: 2015–16

Individual QFA Player of the Season: 2005–06 Asian Footballer of the Year nominee: 2008 Qatar Stars League Top Scorer: 2012–13