EUPEN, Belgium — The chant started midway through the first half, emanating from a corner of the Kehrweg Stadium where a few dozen preteens, each of them wearing a thick down jacket amid the falling snow, were gathered.

Their coats identified the children as members of the youth system of the local club, K.A.S. Eupen. The team’s crest was emblazoned on the chest of each coat. On the back was another badge, another name: Aspire, the organization that owns and runs Eupen. For five years, Eupen has been the finishing school for graduates of the Aspire Academy, the lavish Qatari-financed project designed to turn the tiny Gulf state into an elite force in global sports.

The children were clearly eager to show their gratitude on Monday when Qatar’s national team paid a rare visit to Eupen to face Iceland in an exhibition match. As Ari Skulason, the Icelandic captain, lined up a free kick, that small corner of the stadium came out in support of his opponent. In shrill, excited voices, carrying across the bitterly cold night, the Belgian children chanted, “Qatar, Qatar.”

In the last decade, Qatar has spent an almost unfathomable amount of money to try to turn itself into a major player in soccer and, by extension, to win hearts and minds, to accrue coveted soft power around the globe. Here, at least, in this neat, compact stadium in this neat, compact town a few miles from the Belgium-Germany border, it seems to be working.