The glory and privilege of hosting the grandest sporting event in the world hasn’t really been glorious for Qatar when it came to performing on the field as they have been handed their second defeat of the tournament after a 3-1 loss at the hands of Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium.
The match kicked off with the hosts rolling the ball to begin play. In a contrast from their first match, Qatar had been doing pretty well to hold possession, with cool and calculated passes around in their own half for the first couple of minutes, but soon lost the ball to Senegal after the latter intercepted a lofted pass by Qatar. Their first attempt came in the 4th minute when forward Ismaila Sarr got the ball into the Qatar box from the right, blasting at the near post into the side netting.
The Qatar defense lineup does great by clearing off a brilliant shot from Ismaila Sarr. The keeper Ismail Jakobs also manages to keep the ball under his control following another attempt, before clearing it away. Qatar had clearly begun to push Senegal on backfoot, creating several chances to deliver a cross, putting pressure on the opponents. However, Qatar averted an almost certain disaster when a corner for Senegal was misjudged by Qatar goalkeeper, who rushed in, and clearance went straight in the head of the Senegal player, who luckily for him missed the target.
It has been over 35 minutes into the first half and both teams are now making equal efforts to take an early lead in this crucial encounter. 41 minutes up, and the first goal of the match is scored as Boulaye DIA beats the Qatar goalie to give Senegal a 1-0 lead over the hosts. 8 minutes were added as extra time which doesn’t have much action except for just one yellow card for Homam (Qatar). The score at stoppage time reads Senegal lead Qatar 1-0.
The second half begins and quite visibly, Senegal has shifted gears as they begin an unleashed attack on Qatar with several shots at the goal within the first 5 minutes. Senegal are maintaining ball possession and creating multiple opportunities to score, increasing their probability to extend the lead. 48 minutes into the match, Famara Diedhiou sends a header past the Qatar goalie to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Qatar begin an onslaught as they realize the grave danger they are in, keeping the ball to themselves, making tight passes and hitting some great shots at the goal. They make their best attempt to score in the 63rd minute when Almoez Ali curls a low shot towards the far corner of the goal, but Eduouard Mendy stretches across to make a heroic save. A few substitutions follow and the match continues in the same way up until the 78th minute when Mohammed Muntari finally scores the first goal for Qatar and narrows the gap to 1-2.
The motivation for Qatar is short lived as Cheikh Dieng scores the third goal for Senegal in the 84th minute, taking his team to a 3-1 lead. Abdelkarim shoots a free kick that just goes wide of the Senegal goal in the 89th minute. 7 minutes of extra time doesn’t yield anything extra as the match ends with Senegal leading Qatar 3-1 with the referee’s whistle.
With this win, Senegal are pretty much safe for now. Qatar’s only hope to stay alive in this tournament would be if Ecuador can beat the Netherlands. If that happens, Qatar can still have one more chance to bounce back in.
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