The biggest football event in the world will happen in a few days as the 2022 World Cup kicks-off in Qatar. Teams have already named their 26-man squad and coaches are preparing for their formation. Group A looks underwhelming but composed of the competition’s dark horses. Before the big event, here’s a preview of the teams, schedules and players to watch in Group A.
Team Guide:
Qatar
How they qualified: Host nation
World Cup appearances: 0
Best finish: N/A
FIFA Ranking: 50
Coach: Félix Sánchez
Fixtures: Ecuador (November 21), Senegal (November 25), Netherlands (November 29)
Netherlands
How they qualified: Group G winners (European Qualifiers)
World Cup appearances: 10
Best finish: Runners-up (1974, 1978, and 2010)
FIFA Ranking: 8
Coach: Louis van Gaal
Fixtures: Senegal (November 22), Ecuador (November 26), Qatar (November 29)
Senegal
How they qualified: Play-off winners
World Cup appearances: 2
Best finish: Last-8 (2002)
FIFA Ranking: 18
Coach: Aliou Cissé
Fixtures: Netherlands (November 22), Qatar (November 25), Ecuador (November 29)
Ecuador
How they qualified: Fourth-place (CONMEBOL Qualifiers)
World Cup appearances: 4
Best finish: Last-16 (2006)
FIFA Ranking: 44
Coach: Gustavo Alfaro
Fixtures: Qatar (November 21), Senegal (November 25), Netherlands (November 26)
Winners: Netherlands
The three-time World Cup runners-up Netherlands is looking to revive their former glory in this edition of the tournament following the 2016 European Championship and 2018 World Cup disaster. Louis van Gaal’s side are unbeaten in the last 15 international matches, including 7 wins and 2 draw in the qualifiers. They scored 33 goals during the qualification stages.
Losers: Qatar
Despite having a home soil advantage, Qatar will definitely struggle in the group stage, especially when faced by teams as big as the Dutch team. They will be heavily reliant with the likes of Almoez Ali and Tarek Salman. If they are lucky enough to pass against Netherlands and Senegal, they will for sure gonna be out of luck when they face bigger teams in the succeeding rounds.
Players to watch:
Sadio Mane (Senegal) – Senegal’s talisman and the hero of their first-ever AFCON triumph after he converted the decisive penalty in that shootout victory over Egypt. Mane is also Senegal’s record goal scorer and was crowned African Football of the Year after his impressive record with his former club Liverpool and Senegal. He is also regarded as one of the best attackers in the world.
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) – Considered as one of the best center-back in the world, the Dutch team captain will try to show-off his prowess in the position for this year’s tournament to make up for his absence during Netherland’s Euro 2020 campaign. However, Van Dijk is struggling to impress this season, scoring only 1 goal in 13 appearances for his Premier League side.
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