The biggest sporting event in the world continues with the Group A Qatar v Senegal clash that sees the host nation return for game two, and hopefully some footballing redemption. For them.
With so many games and so little time, our Group A Qatar v Senegal Match Centre tries to sum it all up as quickly as possible before and after the game and with just a hint of cynicism. If you wanted professional and/or good you’d be on the BBC website, not here. Essentially, we watch and follow the game so you don’t have to.
With answers to the key questions prior to the match and our Minutes that Mattered summary and stats post game, it is a real Who Cares guide to the 2022 World Cup for the person on the go.
Enjoy the Group A Qatar v Senegal Match Centre.
KICKOFF – FRIDAY 25TH NOV – 16:00 (QATAR) 13:00 (UK) 00:00 (AEDT)
Group A Qatar v Senegal Match Review
The host nation are effectively the first tesm knocked out of the 2022 World Cup after they were beaten 3-1 by Senegal as the second games of the group stage got underway.
Minutes that Mattered
Welcome to the briefest of match summaries, like a minute by minute you find on professional websites except one that has only the minutes that matter. All wheat, no chaff.
And if the below isn’t enough, for those in Australia you can catch up via the SBS World Cup on Demand.
4′ Min Early-ish chance for Senegal as Ismaila Sarr unleashes a powerful shot towards the posts, but sadly for him it ends up in the side netting. Looked good though.
9′ Min Big question early – are Qatar playing any better than their first game so far? The answer to that is yes, they do look better in attack, but the defence is still suspect and Senegal are getting a few half chances early and playing well.
13′ Min Free kick to Iran after Almoez Ali becomes Almoez All-over-the-ground as he is pushed down while chasing a ball by some Senegal defenders. After taking way too long to decide where to put the ball, Iran don’t score from the free kick.
15′ Min A corner for Senegal sees a real chance for Senegal if they were following the ball as the Qatar keeper had come out to meet the ball but missed. The aftermath of the corner is a player down from each side due to a heavy clash in the corner wrestle. They eventually get back up and continue, and will no doubt have plenty of time to make up for the lost time, as FIFA does like an a lot of Added time.
26′ Min Qatar are looking more vulnerable in defence than last time out. Senegal seems to be parked in their half. Senegal nearly create a goal via a goalkeeper’s kick. Every second minute there seems to be a shot from Senegal.
33′ Min Controversy for the home side as they make a break down field after some nice passing, and Akram Afif powers into the penalty area but goes down alongside the Senegal defender. The referee is right there and ignores the desperate requests from the home side to allow the penalty. Perhaps they know it’s their main way of scoring a goal.
40′ Min GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL FOR SENEGAL
Senegal open heir account for the World Cup thus far with a goal that was scored with the assistance of Qatar. Senegal send a pretty poor cross into the box, but it stops at defender Boualem Khoukhi’s feet, but the Qatar defender can’t handle to ball and it rolls into the path of Boulaye Dia who calmly puts the ball away to score. Poor defending from Boualem Khoukhi.
QATAR 0 SENEGAL 1
44′ Min Another Qatar Football player down after a friendly fire attack. The clash involved Formose Mendy and Almoez Ali with the former going the worst. The clash happened as they both went for a ball in the air. Nothing much going right for Qatar at the moment.
HALF TIME – QATAR 0 SENEGAL 1
47′ Min Early corner in the second half for Senegal. Let’s see if they pick up where they left off in the first half. Well, yes.
48′ Min GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL FOR SENEGAL
Ismail Jakobs delivers the corner and Famara Diédhiou runs forward to meet it with his head and hits the ball sweetly to zoom past the Qatar goal keeper and score. Senegal are 2-0 up and Qatar will struggle to make it back from here. But money can’t buy everything.
QATAR 0 SENEGAL 2
53′ Min Qatar get a free kick close to their penalty area after a crunching tackle that annoys the Qatari captain who follows the referee around for a while yelling at him.
Moving forward to the actual kick, the cross into the box is quite good, and then Qatar is presented with a golden opportunity to score in a mad scramble around the six year line, but Qatar deny themselves as the ball is kicked into own team mate then rebounds out of the penalty area. Unlucky maybe, but Qatar have been very unlucky in this game and the last according to that logic.
60′ Min Qatar go close with a long range shot from Abdelkarim Hassan that seems to only just miss anything.
62′ Min And they go close again through Almoez Ali, and this requires a fingertap save from Mendy to push it around the posts.
66′ Min Qatar go even closer for that elusive first goal. This time it is Almoez Ali who gets a touch from a cross and it is heading for the bottom left of the goal before Mendy pulls out another great save.
72′ Min Another free kick and another big chance for Qatar goes begging. The cross arrived near the back post and the ball moves like a pinball between the players with the ball coming off Mendy’s arm as the final touch. Qatar continue to be unlucky, or contribute to their own lank.
78′ Min GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL FOR QATAR
Qatar have finally scored, and this time through the recently arrived Mohammed Muntari. It was actually a nicely worked goal. A long diagonal pass landed with Ismaeel Mohammad, who after a small run down the right fires the perfect cross to Mohammed Muntari who squeezed through the Senegal defenders to be the first Qatari to score at a World Cup. On the balance of play in the second half they deserved something.
QATAR 1 SENEGAL 2
82′ Min GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL FOR SENEGAL
Senegal respond quickly with a goal of their own, and it is pretty simple stuff. A run down the right, the perfect cross into the penalty area and Bamba Dieng is on hand to put the ball into the back of the goal with ease. The cross was provided by Moussa N’Diaye.
QATAR 1 SENEGAL 3
90′ Min Six minutes of added time to go. Qatar need to find a goal or two right now to stay in the hunt for the knockout stages.
90′ + 4 Min Almoez Ali has a goal attempt that flies over the crossbars and that is that.
There won’t be enough time left to score two goals. In fairness to Qatar they were much better in the second half than the previous three. But it wasn’t enough. ]
Hats off to Senegal who were excellent. England should be watching, as they are the most likely opponents in the Round of 16.
Final Score
QATAR 1
Mohammed Muntari 78′
SENEGAL 3
Boulaye Dia 40′ Famara Diédhiou 48′ Bamba Dieng 82′
HT Qatar 0 Senegal 1
Player of the Match
Ismaila Sarr or Édouard Mendy
Group A Qatar v Senegal Match Stats
Group A Qatar v Senegal Starting Teams
QATAR
22 Barsham
17 Mohammad
2 Carvalho Deus Correia
16 Khoukhi
3 Al Haj Fadlalla
14 Ahmed
12 Boudiaf
10 Al Haydos
23 Al Haj Madibo
19 Abdulla
11 Afif
SENEGAL (4-3-3)
16 Mendy
21 Sabaly
3 Koulibaly
22 Diallo
14 Jakobs
18 Sarr
6 Mendy
5 Gueye
15 Diatta
9 Dia
19 Diédhiou
Group A Qatar v Senegal Match Preview
Why should you care?
It was/is quite easy to continue bashing Qatar’s footballing credentials after their woeful first up performance. And we will – refer to our World Cup Headlines. But the big point of interest in this game we guess is whether that first game was just a blip and Qatar will be out to show the world they aren’t the Muppet Show, or they are indeed the worst host nation in World Cup history. Both on and off field.
Less controversial is that Senegal, despite missing Sadio Mane, were very competitive against the Netherlands, so we are genuinely interested in seeing what they can offer.
Funny though, how differently the football is reacting to two teams who both lost 2-0 in the first round of 2022 World Cup games. Maybe one is just more likeable than the other.
Who should you care about?
Ismaila Sarr was our pick of the Senegalese players against the Netherlands, and should be the star man against Qatar. You can always expect a shot or two, so hopefully this round he’s a little more on target.
Full 2022 World Cup Squads & Stats
Is there a barely interesting fact?
Qatar were the first host nation to lose their first game of the tournament.
Senegal have drawn their only World Cup game v Asian opposition (v Japan 2018).
Qatar’s record v African nations in internationals since the last World Cup is D1 L2.
Who will win?
Qatar 0 Senegal 2
Full 2022 World Cup Predictions
