Senegal triumph, host nation Qatar eliminated from the World Cup; Iran down Wales
Host nation Qatar crashed out of their own World Cup on Friday after they were beaten 3-1 by Senegal and Ecuador held the Netherlands to a draw.
Senegal scored either side of half-time through Boulaye Dia and Famara Diedhiou before Qatar substitute Mohammed Muntari replied in the 78th minute to set up a dramatic finale.
The African champions’ substitute Bamba Dieng scored six minutes later to put the result beyond doubt and lift Senegal, who opened with a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands, right back into contention in Group A.
Qatar’s second successive defeat left the Asian champions relying on Ecuador beating the Dutch a few hours later, but the match ended 1-1 to seal the Qataris’ fate.
“We would like to say we’re very sorry to the supporters, to the country,” said Tarek Salman, who was a second-half substitute.
“We have made them feel bad about losing two games in a row in the World Cup.”
“It feels very bad to be out of the World Cup. I think today we played a good game and in the big games small details change the game,” he said.
“We made two mistakes, they scored two goals but for some minutes of the game we played better than them, we scored a goal. We have to learn from our mistakes.”
Qatar had made a nervy start to the tournament in a 2-0 defeat to Ecuador and they again looked tentative against Senegal.
The Qataris dropped their goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb to the bench after his shaky performance in the opener. His replacement Meshaal Barsham did not inspire much confidence in the early stages, flapping at a corner
as Senegal pushed for the opening goal.
Ismaila Sarr and Nampalys Mendy had already missed scoring chances for Senegal by then, and Idrissa Gana Gueye and Youssouf
Sabaly squandered more as the first half wore on.
Earlier, Iran claimed a famous 2-0 victory over 10-man Wales as Carlos
Queiroz’s men scored two goals deep into added time to keep their World Cup campaign alive.
The Iran players, who sang the national anthem before kickoff, sent their thousands of supporters at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium delirious by beating a European team at a World Cup for the first time. Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey became the first player to be sent off in the Qatar tournament for clattering into Mehdi Taremi late in the game.
Iran, who had earlier twice struck the woodwork, finally broke the deadlock in the 98th minute through substitute Rouzbeh Chesh- mi’s powerful drive.
Ramin Rezaeian clipped in a second on the counter-attack three minutes later.
Iran, who would have been eliminated with a defeat, instead climbed to second in Group B behind England, against whom they had lost 6-2 in their opening game.