2022 FIFA World Cup Group A

Group A of the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place from 20 to 29 November 2022. The group consisted of host nation Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands. The top two teams, the Netherlands and Senegal, advanced to the round of 16. Qatar became the first host nation to lose every group game in the World Cup history, becoming the worst performing host.

Teams

Notes

Standings

In the round of 16:
* The winners of Group A, the Netherlands, advanced to play the runners-up of Group B, the United States.
* The runners-up of Group A, Senegal, advanced to play the winners of Group B, England.

Matches

All times listed are local, AST (UTC+3).

The match between Senegal and the Netherlands was originally scheduled to be the opening match of the tournament on 21 November 2022, 13:00, while the match between Qatar and Ecuador would take place later that day at 19:00. However, FIFA adjusted the match schedule on 11 August 2022, moving the Qatar–Ecuador fixture to 20 November in order for the hosts to feature in the opening match of the tournament. As a result, Senegal–Netherlands fixture was pushed back to 19:00 on 21 November.

Qatar vs Ecuador

The two teams had faced each other three times, most recently in 2018, a 4–3 win for Qatar in a friendly game. This was their first competitive meeting.

Ecuador had a disallowed goal in the opening minutes, but eventually won 2–0 with a brace by Enner Valencia in the first match of the tournament. Valencia opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a penalty, shooting low to the right corner after being brought down in the penalty area by Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb. He scored his second in the 31st minute with a downward header to the left corner of the net after a cross in from the right by Ángelo Preciado. This is the third consecutive FIFA World Cup in which a player scored a brace in the opening match, after Brazil's Neymar in 2014 and Russia's Denis Cheryshev in 2018. This was also the first time a penalty kick had been scored as the opening goal of a FIFA World Cup. Qatar became the 14th debutant to lose their opening fixture; additionally, they became the first host nation to lose their opening match at a World Cup.

Senegal vs Netherlands

The teams had never met before.

After a goalless first half, Cody Gakpo put the Netherlands ahead in the 84th minute when he got to the ball first to head past the advancing goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and into the empty net after a cross from Frenkie de Jong. In stoppage time, Davy Klaassen made it 2–0 when he followed up on Memphis Depay's saved shot to slot into the net.

Qatar vs Senegal

The two teams had never met before.

Following the Netherlands' 1–1 draw with Ecuador played after this match, Qatar became the first host country to be eliminated from the group stage of the FIFA World Cup after just two games, and the second overall, after South Africa, to fail to progress to the knockout round. This loss also confirmed Qatar as the worst hosts by performance, as they could secure no more than three points, one short of South Africa's four.

Netherlands vs Ecuador

The two teams had faced each other twice, most recently in 2014, a 1–1 draw in a friendly game.

Ecuador vs Senegal

The two teams had faced each other twice, most recently in 2005, a 2–1 win for Senegal in a friendly.

The 1–2 defeat resulted in Ecuador's second consecutive group stage exit, with the previous one coming in 2014.

Netherlands vs Qatar

The two teams had never met before.

In losing to the Netherlands, Qatar gained the distinction of being the first and only World Cup hosts in history to suffer three defeats and failed to earn a single point.

Discipline

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:
*first yellow card: −1 point;
*indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
*direct red card: −4 points;
*yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;

Only one of the above deductions were applied to a player in a single match.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Group A
2022 FIFA World Cup
Qatar at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Ecuador at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Senegal at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Netherlands at the 2022 FIFA World Cup