Qatar’s first World Cup on home soil took another heavy blow on Friday, 25 November 2022, as the host nation fell 3–1 to Senegal at Matchday 2 of the Group A stage. The match kicked off at 13:00 UTC under the refereeing of Antonio Mateu, and Senegal held a 1–0 lead at half-time. The result left Qatar with zero points after two games and facing near-certain elimination from their own tournament.

For Qatar, this defeat was a devastating blow to their hopes of progressing beyond the group ...