The finite nature of the group stage means this is already a ‘must win’ contest for Qatar and Senegal as both sides started their 2022 World Cup campaigns with identical 2-0 defeats. It proved to be a particularly poor showing from the host nation against Ecuador which forced manager Félix Sánchez to be candid in the aftermath, suggesting “the responsibility and nerves got the best of us” as he lamented Qatar’s “terrible start”.
Many of the home supporters agreed, which was perhaps why there appeared to be a mass exodus of fans way before the game had finished at the Al Bayt Stadium. The loss handed Qatar the unwanted record of becoming the first host nation ever to lose their opening game of the World Cup, and they’re now at risk of making further unwanted history by becoming only the fifth host nation to lose successive World Cup games. Yet, boss Sánchez has vowed he is “completely sure” his team will make supporters much happier this time around.
Senegal’s defeat against the Netherlands felt less deserving than their opponents as they looked on course to record a crucial point. The Netherlands’ first shot on target against them in the 84th minute proved to be the Cody Gakpo strike that broke the deadlock, while Davy Klaassen’s goal, recorded officially at 98:17, was the second latest World Cup strike scored in normal time since 1966. It was beaten only by Iran’s second goal from the penalty spot in their 6-2 defeat to England a few hours earlier that day!
Manager Aliou Cissé was handed a blow right on the eve of the tournament when talisman Sadio Mané was ruled out of the competition with an injury. There was evidence that Senegal missed his clinical touch on Monday as they registered 15 shots without scoring – only against Sweden (2002 – 26) have the Lions had more in a single World Cup match. Given they’re now without a clean sheet in their last eight World Cup matches, producing a more ruthless attacking display here is likely to be key in securing a positive result.
Key battle: Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb produced an erratic display against Ecuador, although nerves could have contributed to that given he boasted three clean sheets across his four prior appearances for club or country. Meanwhile, Senegal’s Ismaïla Sarr directly contributed to seven of his side’s 15 shots against the Netherlands (shots: three, chances created: four).
Hot stat: Qatar didn’t have a shot on target in their opening match against Ecuador.
World Cup trivia: That failure to test the Ecuador goalkeeper meant Qatar were the first host nation to fail to do so in a World Cup match since USA against Brazil in the round of 16 in 1994, and they could now become the first team since USA in 2006 to fail to find the target in consecutive World Cup matches.
