FIFA World Cup 2022 Group A has shaped up as a tough pool after the draw, with Senegal, the recently crowned champion of Africa and European football powerhouse, Netherlands in the same pool.
Here is a look at the four teams in Group A and how they stack up at this point as they gear up for Qatar 2022.
Qatar
Host and World Cup debutant Qatar will be hoping to not follow in the footsteps of South Africa. South Africa was the only host country in history to not make it past the group stage in 2010.
Felix Sanchez’s team is the defending Asian champion after defeating Japan in AFC Asian Cup final in 2019. It was the first international trophy in the team's history.
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Qatar has not faced any of the teams in its group before.
Its automatic qualification in the tournament makes it difficult to gauge its chances of qualification, but the heavy defeats it faced against teams like Portugal, Ireland and Serbia in friendlies last year raises doubts about its chances to make it past the group stages.
Manager: Felix Sanchez
Qatar's World Cup record: N/A
Ecuador
This will be Ecuador’s fourth World Cup appearance in its history, with its last appearance coming in 2014. Gustavo Alvaro’s team qualified for the tournament after finishing fourth in the CONMEBOL qualifying tournament.
It is a tricky group for Ecuador because it has not faced any of the teams in its group in its World Cup history. The nation enjoyed its best run in the 2006 edition when it reached the Round of 16 and finished as the runner-up of the group behind Germany.
Ecuador will start its World Cup campaign against an Asian team (Qatar) for the first time after beginning its previous three World Cup with matches against European teams [2002 vs Italy (L 2-0), 2006 vs Poland (W 2-0) and 2014 vs Switzerland (L 2-1)].
Manager: Gustavo Alfaro
Ecuador's World Cup record:
Senegal
Senegal is one of the favourites to qualify from the group.
Recently crowned champion of Africa, Aliou Cisse’s team will be coming to the World Cup with a boosted morale.
In the 2018 World Cup campaign, Senegal couldn’t make it past the group stage. It enjoyed its best-ever campaign in 2002 when it reached the quarterfinals.
Senegal was involved in a tense battle with Egypt where it defeated the latter 3-1 on penalties after the score ended 1-1 on aggregate. Boasting players like Sadio Mane, Idrissa Gana Gueye and Kalidou Koulibaly, it won’t be a surprise if the ‘Lions of Teranga’ top the group.
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Senegal started its last two World Cups with successive wins against France in 2002 and Poland in 2018. It also has the best win percentage of any African nation at the finals having won 38% of its fixtures (P8 W3 D3 L2).
Manager: Aliou Cisse
Senegal's World Cup record —
Netherlands
The Netherlands, with its rich footballing heritage, reached an absolute low after it failed to make the finals in the 2018 edition of the World Cup.
However, with the re-appointment of Louis Van Gaal, who led the team to third place in 2014, the Men in Orange has steadily worked on closing the loopholes.
Topping UEFA Group G in the qualifiers, the three-time World Cup runner-up (1974, 1978, 2010) is expected to be one of the two teams to qualify from Group A, with stars like Virgil Van Dijk, Frankie De Jong and Memphis Depay in its side.
Netherlands holds the European record for the most FIFA World Cup qualifying goals having taken its overall tally to 329 with 33 goals in its campaign for Qatar 2022.
Manager: Louis Van Gaal
Netherland's World Cup record —
Here's the full list of FIFA World Cup 2022 Group A fixtures and timings (IST)
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