Qatar 1-3 Senegal: What’s your prediction?
Senegal manager Aliou Cisse swaps Jakobs in for the injured Cheikhou Kouyate and Pape Abou Cisse is replaced by Famara Diedhiou, while Qatar boss Felix Sanchez makes three changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Ecuador.
With both sides having lost their first game, a defeat for either at the Al Thumama Stadium would likely see them go out of the competition, depending on the result of the Netherlands-Ecuador game later on Friday.
Senegal on paper and based on the performance they put up against Netherlands is expected to get the upper hand against Qatar who perhaps produced one of the most subdued performances of the tournament but the hosts will have a point to prove and have the opportunity to make a statement against the African champions.
When?
25th November, 07:00 pm, Bangladesh time
Where?
Al-Thumama Stadium, Al Thumama, Qatar
Capacity: 44,400
Qatar and Senegal have never faced each other before.
Key stats:
* Both teams lost their first game, with Qatar falling 2-0 to Ecuador for the first ever loss by a host country in the opening match and Senegal to Netherlands by the same score.
* The game in Al Thumama stadium will be a meeting between the current Asian and African champions.
* Regional governing bodies CAF and the AFC have previously organised two intercontinental tournaments together, one for the continents' club sides and the other for national teams.
* Senegal shocked the world by reaching the quarter-finals 20 years ago on their first World Cup appearance in Japan and South Korea. A 16-year wait to return to the finals followed but at Russia 2018 their hearts were broken as they were eliminated in the group stage by Japan on a fair play tiebreaker.
* Qatar hope to avoid becoming only the second World Cup hosts to be eliminated in the first round at the finals after South Africa in 2010.
Prediction: Qatar 1-2 Senegal
Lineups
Qatar: (4-3-3) Meshaal Barsham, Pedro Miguel, Abdelkarim Hassan, Ismail Mohamad, Hassan Al-Haydos (captain), Akram Afif, Karim Boudiaf, Homam Ahmed, Assim Madibo, Boualem Khoukhi, Almoez Ali.
Senegal: (3-5-2) Eduoard Mendy, Youssouf Sabaly, Kalidou Koulibaly, Abdou Diallo, Nampalys Mendy, Famara Diedhiou, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Ismail Jakobs, Krepin Diatta, Ismaila Sarr, Boulaye Dia.
Following is a statbox on Qatar at the World Cup
FIFA Ranking: 50
ODDS: 250-1
Previous tornaments
Qatar have never before qualified for a World Cup. Their only major title is the 2019 Asian Cup when they conceded only one goal during the tournament. That year Qatar were invited to play at the Copa America as guests and finished bottom of their group. In 2020, Qatar were invited to play at the CONCACAF Gold Cup as guests, losing to the United States in the semi-final.
How they qualified
As hosts, Qatar automatically qualified for the finals.
Form guide
At the Arab Cup, held in Qatar as a World Cup test event in December 2021, they beat Egypt 5-4 on penalties in a third-place playoff. Qatar have five wins, two defeats and four draws in 11 friendlies in 2022. Between June 2022 and mid-autumn, the squad were locked-down at training camps in Austria and Spain.
Following is a statbox on Senegal at the World Cup:
FIFA Ranking: 18
Odds: 80-1
Previous tournaments:
Senegal are one of three African countries to reach a World Cup quarter-final - the best achievement by a team from the continent. They did so on their debut appearance in 2002, when they upset holders France in the opening game in Seoul. Senegal qualified again for the last World Cup in Russia and lost out on a place in the knockout stage on the number of cautions received in the first round after they were tied in the group standings with Japan on points, goal difference and goals scored.
How they qualified:
Senegal were the top-ranked team in the African qualifiers, earning a bye in the group phase which started last September. They romped through their group, winning five of their six matches against Congo, Namibia and Togo, who were the only side to take points off them in a 1-1 draw. Senegal then met Egypt in the playoffs in a repeat of their Africa Cup of Nations final success six weeks earlier and won a shootout again, after the two-legged tie in March ended 1-1 on aggregate, to book a place in Qatar.
Form guide:
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse led a chorus of critics demanding to have Cup of Nations qualifying matches, scheduled for the June and September international window, postponed to allow the Qatar-bound African teams to organise more testing World Cup warm-up games. He was partially successful, after Senegal beat Benin and Rwanda in Cup of Nations qualifiers in June, and a postponement of the campaign in September allowed Senegal to instead beat Bolivia in a friendly in France and then draw 1-1 with Iran in Austria.