Following Senegal’s victory, Qatar was eliminated from the World Cup

After suffering their second consecutive loss to Senegal at their own World Cup, Qatar is on the verge of being eliminated from the competition in the group stage.

The Middle Eastern team put up a valiant fight, but they will be eliminated from contention with a match to spare if the Netherlands are able to avoid defeat against Ecuador later on Friday (16:00 GMT kick-off).

Boulaye Dia broke the deadlock for the African champions four minutes before halftime, punishing Boualem Khoukhi for a miscued clearing, and slammed the ball into the back of the net to get the African champions up and running.

Qatar’s aspirations were shattered early in the second half when former Bristol City striker Famara Diedhiou scored a magnificent goal with a header just three minutes after the interval. Qatar had been looking to go on the scoreboard in the second half.

Ismaila Sarr, who was playing in his 50th international match for Watford, had an early opportunity but hit the side netting, and Idrissa Gueye’s rasping shot for Everton went just wide of the target.

When Akram Afif was brought down inside the penalty area by Sarr during the first half of the match, Qatar believed they should have been awarded a penalty for the incident; however, Spanish referee Antonio Lahoz only signaled for a goal kick, much to the ire of the fans in the home stadium.

Edouard Mendy, the goalkeeper for Chelsea, produced a couple of spectacular reflex saves to prevent goals to Almoez Ali and Ismaeel Mohammad, but he was helpless to stop Mohammed Muntari’s powerful header.

Qatar was trying to get an equalizer until Bamba Dieng scored to deflate the crowd supporting them at home. As a result, Qatar is currently in last place in the group with no points after playing two games.