Senegal Defeats Host Nation Qatar To Be The First African Team To Win A Game At The 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Senegal defeats host nation Qatar 3-1 on Friday evening, to become the first African country to win a game in the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Both Qatar and Senegal were looking to bounce back from the opening-game defeat against Ecuador and the Netherlands respectively.

Qatar's improvement against Senegal was visible, though they lacked attacking threat in a one-sided first half.

The hosts felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Akram Afif was felled by Ismaila Sarr in the area, but the appeals were ignored by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

Ismaila Sarr was also active in the first half of the game at the Al Thumama Stadium, missing a couple of fine chances to put the African champions ahead.

But Boulaye Dia finally managed to break the deadlock just before the break as he scored the opening goal of the game in the 41st minute to give the Teranga Lions the lead.

Senegal hit the ground running in the second half and extended their lead just three minutes in through Famara Diedhiou, who headed home in the 48th minute following an Ismail Jakobs corner kick.

Qatar pushed in their bid to score their first goal in the tournament and they managed to do so through Mohammed Muntari who beat Edouard Mendy from close range in the 78th minute.

That goal brought about quite a celebration among the home fans, as it was an historic first goal at a World Cup finals for Qatar.

The Arabian team, tried to stage a comeback but that didn't come to fruition with Ahmadou Dieng restoring Senegal's two-goal lead in the 84th minute to put the game to bed with six minutes to go.

With Senegal’s win, the hope of the host nation appears to be hanging, as their qualification to the next round is becoming really slim.

Qatar are rooted to the bottom of Group A with one game to play and will be the first nation eliminated from the tournament if the Netherlands avoid a defeat against Ecuador later on Friday evening.

Following this win, Senegal have three points in Group A, alongside Netherlands and Ecuador, who also have three points each before facing each other.

In the final Group A games, Qatar face the Netherlands and Ecuador take on Senegal on Tuesday at 4pm.