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Qatar 1-3 Senegal: World Cup hosts on brink of elimination after defeat.
Despite Mohammed Muntari scoring the country’s first-ever World Cup finals goal in a 3-1 loss to Senegal on Friday at the Al Thumama Stadium, host nation Qatar is dangerously close to being eliminated from the tournament.
Qatar will be the first team mathematically eliminated from the competition if the Netherlands defeats Ecuador, which defeated Qatar in the tournament’s opening game, later on, Friday.
The jitters from the opening night were completely gone as Qatar quickly dominated Senegal. They also should have been awarded a penalty after Ismaila Sarr tripped Akram Afif, but Spanish referee Antonio Mateu waved them off and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not step in.
Senegal needed to score to tie the game, but with Qatar’s strong defence, it would either require a miraculous play or a disastrous error. Unfortunately for Qatar defender Boualem Khoukhi, the latter occurred.
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Krepin Diatta’s typical low pass into the box, which was his attempt to clear, went horribly awry when he went to the ground without making adequate contact with the ball.
Dia pounced as Khoukhi’s shot failed, and the 26-year-old attacker needed no further encouragement to slam the ball home at the near post to give Senegal the lead.
In the 48th minute, Famara Diedhou extended Senegal’s lead with a spectacular glancing header from an Ismail Jakobs corner as the Qatari audience had significantly thinned out at the start of the second half.
Muntari cut the lead in half in the 78th minute with a powerful header from an Ismail Mohamad cross, but Senegal’s third goal, scored by substitute Bamba Dieng, sent Qatar to the bottom of Group A with 0 points while their group opponents all had three.