QATAR: Despite Mohammed Muntari scoring Qatar’s first World Cup finals goal, the host nation fell 1-3 to Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium on Friday, and as a result, they are in danger of missing out on the tournament.
Qatar’s critical error lead to Senegal’s miraculous victory
Qatar will become the first team mathematically eliminated from the competition if the Netherlands defeats Ecuador, who defeated Qatar in the tournament’s opening match, later on Friday.
The nerves from the premiere night game were nowhere to be seen as Qatar immediately took on Senegal. Qatar seemed to have obtained an opportunity for a penalty when Ismaila Sarr roughly pushed Akram Afif over.
The Spanish match official Antonio Mateu waved away the appeal from Qatar players, and the Video Collaborator Ref (VAR) did not intercede.
Senegal required either a miraculous moment or a catastrophic error from Qatar to break the deadlocked game. Senegal got their moment of miracle and Qatari defender Boualem Khoukhi made a critical error.
Khoukhi fell to the ground after failing to make proper contact with the ball to clear Krepin Diatta’s routine low pass into the box.
The 26-year-old striker, Diatta, took advantage of Khoukhi’s sloppy effort, and he smashed the ball into the net to give Senegal the lead.
Famara Diedhou scored the second goal for Senegal in the 48th minute. He smashed in a brilliant glancing header from an Ismail Jakobs corner as the Qatari crowd in the Al Thumama Stadium began to diminish slightly at the start of the second half of the game.
With a header from Ismail Mohamad’s cross in the 78th, Muntari made up for Qatar’s deficit, but Senegal substitute Bamba Dieng scored his team’s third to increase his team’s lead over Qatar.
The defeat sent Qatar plunging to the bottom of Group A with no points; meanwhile, the other teams all have three points each.
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