International Football
Redemption day for Senegal
African champions, Senegal have the opportunity to make up for their initial loss of an opening game with The Netherlands as they confront the hosts, Qatar this afternoon at the Al Thumama Stadium, Doha.
Both teams have ground to make up in FIFA World Cup Group A after they lost their opening match 2-0 – Qatar on 20 November against Ecuador and Senegal 24 hours later against the Netherlands.
This is a pivotal fixture. Qatar faced African opposition twice in last year’s FIFA Arab Cup, which they hosted, losing 2-1 to Algeria in the semi-finals in Al Thumama Stadium, before overcoming Egypt on penalties following a goalless third-place playoff.
Senegal conceded two late goals to lose their opening game to the Netherlands and they will be looking to bounce back against the hosts.
The African champions drew both of their previous second group matches – 1-1 against Denmark in 2002 and 2-2 against Japan in 2018.