World Cup Qatar 2022 Group A: Teams, Standings, And Matches

World Cup Qatar 2022 Group A: Teams, Standings, and matches for hosts Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador

Netherlands and Senegal have reached the knockout phase of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

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, while the other two teams, Ecuador and host nation Qatar, were eliminated.

Standings

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Host

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group A, the Netherlands, advanced to play the runners-up of Group B.
• The runners-up of Group A, Senegal, will advance to play the winners of Group B.

Matches

All times listed are local (UTC+3).

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

Qatar 0-2 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 opening match of the tournament. Valencia opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a penalty, scored low to the right corner after he had been 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, Qatar became the first host nation to lose their opening match at a World Cup.

Senegal 0-2 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 1-3 Senegal

The two teams had never met before.

Following the 3–1 defeat to Senegal, Qatar had become 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 from the group stage.

Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador

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

Ecuador 1-2 Senegal

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

This was Ecuador’s second elimination from the Group Stage in the World Cup after their 2-1 loss to Senegal, with their first elimination from the Group Stage being in 2014.

Netherlands 2-0 Qatar

The two teams have never met before.

Qatar ended their early run with their first and only goal overall, along with having failed to secure a single win altogether in their World Cup debut.

The runner-up in Group A, Senegal, will face the first-place team in Group B (England, USA, Wales, or Iran), and the Group A winner, Netherlands, will come up against the Group B runner-up.

WORLD CUP GROUP BREAKDOWNS:
Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D
Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H

World Cup Group A fixtures and match schedule

The four teams selected are playing a round-robin format with each nation facing the other three. Group standings are based on points from those three group-stage matches — three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a loss.

The top two teams from each group based on total points advance to the single-game knockouts. If teams are tied on points, goal difference is the first tiebreaker followed by goals scored. If teams are also tied in those categories another set of tiebreakers is applied.

World Cup Group A teams

Qatar

As the 2022 World Cup host, Qatar is determined to put on a show for football fans around the globe, and that includes on the field.

The small Gulf nation with a population under three million has invested significantly in its national team program over the last decade since it won the right to host the tournament back in Dec. 2010. Since then, the cash outlay on player development, coaching and infrastructure has paid off with a top-50 FIFA World Ranking, up from 112th. It also resulted in a first Asian Cup triumph in 2019.

With ex-Barcelona youth coach Felix Sanchez leading the way since 2017, Qatar has developed an attack-minded, entertaining playing style which is sure to win over fans no matter how far they advance on their first World Cup appearance.

• Current FIFA world ranking: 50 (November 2022)
• Regional ranking:5th (Asia)
• World Cup titles:—
• World Cup appearances (last):—
• How qualified: Tournament host
• Coach: Felix Sanchez (Spain) since July 2017
• Key players: Akram Afif (Al-Sadd / Qatar), Almoez Ali (Al-Duhail / Qatar), Hassan Al-Haydos (Al-Sadd / Qatar)

Netherlands

Louis van Gaal — in his third spell in the Netherlands hot seat — will be hoping to use all of his experience to guide the Dutch to the latter stages of the World Cup in a first appearance at the finals in eight years.

Third-place finishers back in 2014, they did not make it to Russia last time out but their fortunes have improved since then, led by a new generation of talent that includes the likes of Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong and Bayern’s Matthijs de Ligt.

Led from the back by Liverpool powerhouse Virgil van Dijk — who will be looking to cement his place as the best defender in the world — the Dutch won a qualification group that also included Turkey and Norway.

• Current FIFA world ranking: 8 (November 2022)
• Regional ranking:6th (UEFA)
• World Cup titles:—
• World Cup appearances (last):10 (Brazil 2014)
• How qualified: UEFA Group G winners: 7W-1L-2D
• Coach: Louis van Gaal (Netherlands) since August 2021
• Key players:Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich / Germany), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool / England), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona / Spain)

Senegal

Senegal did things the hard way to book their place at Qatar 2022 via a penalty shootout but will look to continue a recent excellent vein of form that has already seen the country crowned as the kings of Africa.

Having beaten Egypt once to claim a first AFCON title in February, Aliou Cisse’s side repeated that feat in the final round of African World Cup qualifying to ensure a spot in Qatar — albeit that match was controversial, as fans in the stadium aimed laser pointers at Egypt’s players during the penalty shootout to put them off.

Senegal have already been dealt a huge blow with Sadio Mane ruled out through injury but they also have some other world-class players to call on, including Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Senegal, interestingly, has the highest World Cup win percentage of any African nation in the field.

• Current FIFA world ranking: 18 (November 2022)
• Regional ranking: 1st (CAF)
• World Cup titles:—
• World Cup appearances (last):2 (Russia 2018)
• How qualified: Africa 3rd Round winners (penalty shootout vs. Egypt after 1-1 aggregate)
• Coach: Aliou Cisse (Senegal) since March 2015
• Key players: Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea / England), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea / England)

Ecuador

Ecuador went out in the quarterfinals of their last major tournament, the Copa America, as they were beaten 3-0 by eventual winners Argentina, and Gustavo Alfaro’s team will have to be much more resilient if they are to avoid an early exit from the World Cup.

Experienced forward Enner Valencia, who is his country’s all-time leading scorer, will have a significant part to play as Ecuador return to the world’s biggest stage after missing out on the 2018 tournament.

Brighton defender Pervis Estupinan is another talented player, but the squad overall isn’t the strongest and may struggle to match some of their more illustrious group rivals.

• Current FIFA world ranking: 44 (November 2022)
• Regional ranking:7th (CONMEBOL)
• World Cup titles:—
• World Cup appearances (last):3 (Brazil 2014)
• How qualified: CONMEBOL fourth place: 7W-6L-5D
• Coach:Gustavo Alfaro (Argentina) since August 2020
• Key players: Enner Valencia (Fenerbahce / Turkey), Pervis Estupinan (Brighton / England), Carlos Gruezo (Augsburg / Germany)

World Cup Group A odds and predictions

Here are the odds for each team to win and qualify from the group with odds provided by Sports Interaction (correct as of Nov. 2022).

Minus odds is what must be wagered to win $100 on that specific bet, while plus odds represent the winnings from a successful $100 wager.

The first-place and second-place finishers in Group A will move on to the Round of 16 and will face off against the two teams to advance from Group B on Saturday, Dec. 3, and Sunday, Dec. 4.

The official FIFA 2022 World Cup match schedule outlines the following knockout pairings for the Round of 16 through to the final:

World Cup Round of 16

World Cup Quarterfinals

World Cup Semifinals

World Cup 3rd Place

World Cup Final