World Cup Qatar | Senegal vs Netherlands - Nov 21 | 16:00 UTC

[Mat]

Game info Senegal vs Netherlands

 

Without being able to count on Sadio Mané, its most important player, Senegal faces the Netherlands this Monday, November 21, in the meeting that concludes the first round of the group of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The match will be held at Al Thumama Stadium. The start was set for 16:00 UTC.

 

How does the 2022 Qatar World Cup work?

 

The World Cup in Qatar will be the last to be played with 32 teams. As of the 2026 World Cup, shared by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the number of participants will jump to 4. Thus, it will be the last time the format with eight groups of four teams will be used. Teams play against each other in a single shift in this first phase.

 

The top two finishers in each bracket survive to the next stage. From then on, in a single elimination game, the finalists will be defined. In the case of equality, the extra time and penalty kicks can be used to describe who advances.

 

Senegal Performance

30-year-old striker Sadio Mané suffered a muscle injury in the first half of the match in which he defended Bayern Munich against Werder Bremen, on November 8, for the fourteenth round of the German Championship 2022/2023. It was the penultimate day before the Bundesliga interruption due to the World Cup completion in Qatar. The athlete has been out of action since then.

 

His presence in the duel against the Netherlands has been ruled out, and there is no estimate of his return. Perhaps he will not participate in the first phase. The hope of the Senegalese is that the team can advance to the round of 16 and, in this way, their star will gain more time to recover. Mané was instrumental in securing a spot for the World Cup. Senegal, which went through the group stage of the African Qualifiers without significant problems, having accumulated 16 points (five wins and a draw), eight more than Togo, second in the H group, had a confrontation with Egypt in the decisive moment of the dispute.

 

He left at a disadvantage after losing 1-0 on the opponent's soil. However, he gave the change in the return game, winning by 1 to 0. After a goalless draw in extra time, he won the penalty shootout. Sadio Mané took the last kick. Senegalese and Egyptians met in January's final of the Africa Cup. The duel, based in Cameroon, also had its definition through maximum penalties after goalless draws in the regulatory period and overtime. Mané, who dismissed a penalty right at the beginning of the match, was the author of the charge that guaranteed the trophy.

 

Netherlands Performance

The Netherlands will take to the field in their debut at the World Cup in Qatar, defending a 15-match unbeaten record. The team's last defeat happened on June 27 last year. It took the Czech Republic 2-0 in the round of 16 of Euro 2020, which happened a year late due to the pandemic. The meeting was the last under the direction of Frank de Boer. Louis Van Gaal, 71, has been brought out of retirement to take charge of the national team for the third time.

 

He did this while undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. With him, the Dutch accumulated 11 wins and four draws. They came out of an uncomfortable situation in the fight with Norway and Turkey for the leadership of group G to finish, with 23 points (seven wins, two draws, and one defeat), in the first place. Enough to get a direct place in the World Cup, waiving participation in the playoffs, something that seemed confident with the wrong results at the beginning of the campaign, still under the orders of Frank de Boer.

 

Afterward, they packed a successful trajectory in the League of Nations in Europe. By reaching 16 points (five wins and a draw), the Netherlands won first place in Group 4 of League A, the elite division of the UEFA Nations League. It scored six points in comparison with Belgium, in second place, and guaranteed the right to play in the Final Four, the decisive stage of the competition. This, however, will only happen next year.

 

Even amidst the confusion, under the direction of Argentine coach Gustavo Alvaro, Ecuador played six friendly matches after the end of their campaign in the South American Qualifiers. It remained undefeated. There were two victories (Nigeria and Cape Verde, teams that did not qualify for the World Cup) and four draws (Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Japan, which are in the World Cup, and Panama, which was left out).

 

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