Group A in the 2022 World Cup will be intriguing, as hosts Qatar are joined by African champs Senegal, plus the Netherlands and Ecuador.
[ MORE: Full schedule for 2022 World Cup ]
This really is a wide-open group but the host nation got off to a terrible start as they were outclassed by Ecuador and Qatar are now out are losing to Senegal too.
There’s no doubting that the Netherlands and Senegal are the favorites to advance as Virgil van Dijk will lead the Dutch as they look to make up for missing the 2018 tournament, but Senegal are missing main man Sadio Mane through injury as they aim to better their best-ever finish of reaching the quarterfinals in 2002.
As for Ecuador, they look like an incredibly solid team who are set up very well to counter and proved that against Qatar.
[ MORE: Ranking every World Cup team, 32-1 ]
Below is everything you need to know for 2022 World Cup Group A.
Group A schedule (all kick off times ET)
Recap/highlights: Qatar 0-2 Ecuador – Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Recap/highlights: Senegal 0-2 Netherlands – Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor – 5am
Recap/highlights: Qatar 1-3 Senegal – Al Thumama Stadium, Al Khor
Recap/highlights: Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador – Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan
Tuesday, November 29: Netherlands vs Qatar – Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor – 10am
Tuesday, November 29: Ecuador vs Senegal – Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan – 10am
How To Watch Group A matches live
- When: November 20-29, 2022
- Group stage game kick-off times: 5am, 8am, 10am, 11am (all ET)
- Location: Qatar
- TV channels en Español: Telemundo, Universo, Peacock
- Streamingen Español: Peacock (all 64 matches)
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Group A table
1. Ecuador — 4 points (+2 GD)
2. Netherlands — 4 points (+2)
3. Senegal — 3 points (0)
4. Qatar — 0 (-2) – ELIMINATED
Qatar
Current FIFA world ranking: 49
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 0
How they qualified: As hosts
Coach: Felix Sanchez
Key players: Abdelkarim Hassan, Almoez Ali, Hassan Al-Haydos
Senegal
Current FIFA world ranking: 18
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 2
How they qualified: Beat Egypt in CAF playoff
Coach: Aliou Cisse
Key players: Idrissa Gana Gueye, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly
Netherlands
Current FIFA world ranking: 8
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 10
How they qualified: Qualified automatically from UEFA (Won Group G)
Coach: Louis van Gaal
Key players: Virgil van Dijk, Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong
Ecuador
Current FIFA world ranking: 44
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 3
How they qualified: Qualified automatically from CONMEBOL (4th place)
Coach: Gustavo Alfaro
Key players: Enner Valencia, Moises Caicedo, Pervis Estupinan.
This article is originally published at nbc.com