Senegal's Bamba Dieng scores his team's third goal during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium on November 25, 2022. (Photo by Odd Andersen / AFP)
DOHA: Hosts Qatar suffered their second successive defeat at the FIFA World Cup, losing to African champions Senegal 3-1 at the Al Thumama Stadium.
A 1-1 draw between the Netherlands and Ecuador in yesterday’s second Group A clash later at the Khalifa International Stadium eliminated the home team with a match to spare.
The reigning Asian champions became only the second home side in World Cup history to crash out from the group stage after South Africa in 2010.
It will be a three-way battle for the Round of 16 berths with the Netherlands and Ecuador leading with four points while Senegal have three points.
Senegal and Ecuador will square off in their last group match on Tuesday, the same day when Qatar will face the Netherlands.
The hosts cannot advance irrespective of the result of their last World Cup match.
Qatar's Ismail Mohamad and Pedro Miguel in action with Senegal's Ismail Jakobs during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium on November 25, 2022. (REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Although, Qatar came up with an improved show as compared to their opening match against Ecuador, they lacked that ‘A game’ which Sanchez was expecting from them in the crunch tie.
The hosts were sloppy and nervy at times in the first half and a mistake by Boualem Khoukhi, who miscued a clearance inside the box gifted Senegal their opening goal. Boulaye Dia taking advantage of an awful defending slotted in the opener in 41st minute past goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham, who replaced Saad Al Sheeb after his shaky performance on Sunday.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez made three changes in the starting line-up with defender Ismaeel Mohammad and midfielder Assim Madibo coming in for Bassam Hisham and Abdulaziz Hatem.
Senegal doubled their lead three minutes after the interval when Famara Diedhiou headed the ball past Barsham.
The hosts produced their best performance thereafter and managed to pull one back through a perfect 78th minute header by substitute Mohammed Muntari, who became the first player to score for Qatar in World Cup finals.
The goal brought the home side back into the game and got most of the 41,797 spectators in maroons up on their feet, but an 84th goal from Bamba Dieng took the game out of Qatar’s reach.
Senegal's Bamba Dieng fights for the ball with Qatar's Karim Hassan Abdel (left) and Assim Madibo during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium on November 25, 2022. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP)
“My team made a great effort. We tried to be competitive throughout the match,” Sanchez told reporters after the match.
“I do think we played a good game. When you come here you need to know where you’re coming from (as a country). If this is a failure and disappointment, that depends on expectations,” he added.
“Our goal was to be competitive... We’ve been working for so many months to be able to give a good performance. But sometimes the match does not play out as you expect. It also depends on the opponents’ performance. We didn’t play at our top level. We were competitive but didn’t improve.”
For Senegal, the victory put them in contention for a place in Round of 16 after defeat to the Netherlands in their opening match.
“We have to think about the appropriate approach to the last match. We need to win to have a chance to qualify for the last 16,” Senegal coach Aliou Cisse told reporters.
“Our concentration must be better as we could have avoided the goal that we conceded (against Qatar), but the Ecuador match will be different,” he added.
While Senegal dominated the match, they seemed to be still missing injured Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane upfront.
Ismaila Sarr broke into Qatar’s box early but his shot was deflected into the side netting.
Qatar's Akram Afif takes a corner kick during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Senegal at the Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha on November 25, 2022. (Photo by Glyn Kirk / AFP)
Akram Afif was exciting the crowd but the home side took a quarter of an hour to enter Senegal’s box off a free kick by the Qatari play maker took from a decent area.
Senegal’s Idrissa Gueye struck a low hit from outside the box which just went wide but Barsham was well positioned to block the shot.
The hosts appealed for a penalty in 35th minute after Sarr’s challenge against Afif in the box but referee Antonio Lahoz decided against the review and pointed only for a goal-kick.
A dip in performance in the last 10 minutes of the first half resulted in a lead for Senegal following Khoukhi’s mistake with Dia striking an instant low drive past Barsham.
After conceding their second goal, Qatar pressed hard but Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy made good saves from Almoez Ali and Ismaeel’s attempts before Muntari’s brilliant header on target.
Abdelkarim Hassan also made scoring attempts from a distance but his hits missed the target as Dieng’s goal after a swift move sealed Senegal's first win.
Qatar received applause from a partisan crowd at the final whistle, with the home team hoping for a good performance against the Netherlands.
“We are very happy with the attendance and we are very happy that the crowd supported us. We have to now get ready to play against the Netherlands and we know it is going to be a tougher [challenge],” said Sanchez.
