# 2022 FIFA World Cup Group A

Group A of the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place from 20 to 29 November 2022. The group consisted of the host nation Qatar as well as Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands. The top two teams, the Netherlands and Senegal, advanced to the round of 16. Qatar became the first host nation to lose every group game in the World Cup history, becoming the worst performing host.

## Teams

| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Rankings | FIFA Rankings |
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | March 2022 | October 2022 |
| A1 | Qatar | 1 | AFC | Hosts | 2 December 2010 | 1st | — | — | 51 | 50 |
| A2 | Ecuador | 4 | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL round robin fourth place | 24 March 2022 | 4th | 2014 | Round of 16 (2006) | 46 | 44 |
| A3 | Senegal | 3 | CAF | CAF third round winners | 29 March 2022 | 3rd | 2018 | Quarter-finals (2002) | 20 | 18 |
| A4 | Netherlands | 2 | UEFA | UEFA Group G winners | 16 November 2021 | 11th | 2014 | Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010) | 10 | 8 |
Notes
* ↑ The rankings of March 2022 were used for seeding for the final draw.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Senegal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 3 | Ecuador | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Qatar (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | |
In the round of 16:
* The winners of Group A, the Netherlands, advanced to play the runners-up of Group B, the United States.
* The runners-up of Group A, Senegal, advanced to play the winners of Group B, England.

## Matches

All times listed are local, AST (UTC+3).
The match between Senegal and the Netherlands was originally scheduled to be the opening match of the tournament on 21 November 2022, 13:00, while the match between Qatar and Ecuador would take place later that day at 19:00. However, FIFA adjusted the match schedule on 11 August 2022, moving the Qatar–Ecuador fixture to 20 November in order for the hosts to feature in the opening match of the tournament. As a result, the Senegal–Netherlands fixture was pushed back to 19:00 on 21 November.

### Qatar vs Ecuador

The two teams had faced each other three times, most recently in 2018, a 4–3 win for Qatar in a friendly game. This was their first competitive meeting.
Ecuador had a disallowed goal in the opening minutes, but eventually won the match 2–0 with a brace by Enner Valencia. Valencia opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a penalty, shooting low to the right corner after being brought down in the penalty area by Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb. He scored his second in the 31st minute with a downward header to the left corner of the net after a cross in from the right by Ángelo Preciado.
This was the third consecutive FIFA World Cup in which a player scored a brace in the opening match, after Brazil's Neymar in 2014 and Russia's Denis Cheryshev in 2018. This was also the first time a penalty kick had been scored as the opening goal of a World Cup. Qatar became the 14th debutant to lose their opening fixture; additionally, they became the first host nation to lose their opening match at a World Cup.
| Qatar | Ecuador |
| GK | 1 | Saad Al-Sheeb | 15' |
| CB | 15 | Bassam Al-Rawi |
| CB | 16 | Boualem Khoukhi |
| CB | 3 | Abdelkarim Hassan |
| RWB | 2 | Ró-Ró |
| LWB | 14 | Homam Ahmed |
| CM | 10 | Hassan Al-Haydos (c) | | 72' |
| CM | 12 | Karim Boudiaf | 36' |
| CM | 6 | Abdulaziz Hatem |
| CF | 19 | Almoez Ali | 22' | 72' |
| CF | 11 | Akram Afif | 78' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 9 | Mohammed Muntari | | 72' |
| DF | 4 | Mohammed Waad | | 72' |
| Manager: ||
| Félix Sánchez ||
| GK | 1 | Hernán Galíndez |
| RB | 17 | Ángelo Preciado |
| CB | 2 | Félix Torres |
| CB | 3 | Piero Hincapié |
| LB | 7 | Pervis Estupiñán |
| RM | 19 | Gonzalo Plata |
| CM | 20 | Jhegson Méndez | 56' |
| CM | 23 | Moisés Caicedo | 29' | 90' |
| LM | 10 | Romario Ibarra | | 68' |
| CF | 13 | Enner Valencia (c) | | 77' |
| CF | 11 | Michael Estrada | | 90' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 16 | Jeremy Sarmiento | | 68' |
| MF | 5 | José Cifuentes | | 77' |
| FW | 26 | Kevin Rodríguez | | 90' |
| MF | 21 | Alan Franco | | 90' |
| Manager: ||
| Gustavo Alfaro ||
* Man of the Match:
* Enner Valencia (Ecuador)
* Assistant referees:
* Ciro Carbone (Italy)
* Alessandro Giallatini (Italy)
* Fourth official:
* István Kovács (Romania)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Ovidiu Artene (Romania)
* Video assistant referee:
* Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Paolo Valeri (Italy)
* Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)
* Benoît Millot (France)
* Stand-by assistant video assistant referee:
* Paweł Sokolnicki (Poland)

### Senegal vs Netherlands

The teams had never met before.
After a goalless first half, Cody Gakpo put the Netherlands ahead in the 84th minute when he got to the ball first to head past the advancing goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and into the empty net after a cross from Frenkie de Jong. In stoppage time, Davy Klaassen made it 2–0 when he followed up on Memphis Depay's saved shot to slot into the net.
| Senegal | Netherlands |
| GK | 16 | Édouard Mendy |
| RB | 21 | Youssouf Sabaly |
| CB | 3 | Kalidou Koulibaly (c) |
| CB | 4 | Pape Abou Cissé |
| LB | 22 | Abdou Diallo | | 62' |
| CM | 8 | Cheikhou Kouyaté | | 73' |
| CM | 6 | Nampalys Mendy | 90+4' |
| RW | 15 | Krépin Diatta | | 73' |
| AM | 5 | Idrissa Gueye | 90+6' |
| LW | 18 | Ismaïla Sarr |
| CF | 9 | Boulaye Dia | | 69' |
| Substitutions: ||
| DF | 14 | Ismail Jakobs | | 62' |
| FW | 20 | Bamba Dieng | | 69' |
| MF | 26 | Pape Gueye | | 73' |
| FW | 7 | Nicolas Jackson | | 73' |
| Manager: ||
| Aliou Cissé ||
| GK | 23 | Andries Noppert |
| CB | 3 | Matthijs de Ligt | 56' |
| CB | 4 | Virgil van Dijk (c) |
| CB | 5 | Nathan Aké |
| RM | 22 | Denzel Dumfries |
| CM | 11 | Steven Berghuis | | 79' |
| CM | 21 | Frenkie de Jong |
| LM | 17 | Daley Blind |
| AM | 8 | Cody Gakpo | | 90+4' |
| CF | 18 | Vincent Janssen | | 62' |
| CF | 7 | Steven Bergwijn | | 79' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 10 | Memphis Depay | | 62' |
| MF | 14 | Davy Klaassen | | 79' |
| MF | 20 | Teun Koopmeiners | | 79' |
| MF | 15 | Marten de Roon | | 90+4' |
| Manager: ||
| Louis van Gaal ||
* Man of the Match:
* Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)
* Assistant referees:
* Bruno Boschilia (Brazil)
* Bruno Pires (Brazil)
* Fourth official:
* Andrés Matonte (Uruguay)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Nicolás Taran (Uruguay)
* Video assistant referee:
* Juan Soto (Venezuela)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Nicolás Gallo (Colombia)
* Diego Bonfá (Argentina)
* Mauro Vigliano (Argentina)
* Stand-by assistant video assistant referee:
* Ezequiel Brailovsky (Argentina)

### Qatar vs Senegal

The two teams had never met before, though the match was unique for being the first time ever the Asian champions faced the African champions at a FIFA World Cup.
Boulaye Dia put Senegal in front in the 41st minute, with a low finish to the left corner of the net after a mistake by Qatar defender Boualem Khoukhi. Seven minutes later, Famara Diédhiou doubled Senegal's lead with a header from a corner taken by Ismail Jakobs. Mohammed Muntari pulled one back for Qatar in the 78th minute, the nation's first ever World Cup goal, with a header to the left corner after a cross from Ismaeel Mohammad. Bamba Dieng scored a third for Senegal in the 84th minute with a deflected shot to the net after a pass from Iliman Ndiaye on the right.
Following the Netherlands' 1–1 draw with Ecuador played after this match, Qatar became the first host country to be eliminated from the group stage of the FIFA World Cup after just two games, and the second hosts after South Africa in 2010 to fail to progress to the second round. This loss also confirmed Qatar as the worst hosts by performance, as they could secure no more than three points, one short of South Africa's four.
| Qatar | Senegal |
| GK | 22 | Meshaal Barsham |
| CB | 2 | Ró-Ró | | 83' |
| CB | 16 | Boualem Khoukhi |
| CB | 3 | Abdelkarim Hassan |
| RWB | 17 | Ismaeel Mohammad | 20' |
| LWB | 14 | Homam Ahmed | 45+2' | 83' |
| CM | 12 | Karim Boudiaf | | 69' |
| CM | 10 | Hassan Al-Haydos (c) | | 74' |
| CM | 23 | Assim Madibo | 90+1' |
| CF | 19 | Almoez Ali |
| CF | 11 | Akram Afif |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 6 | Abdulaziz Hatem | | 69' |
| FW | 9 | Mohammed Muntari | | 74' |
| DF | 4 | Mohammed Waad | | 83' |
| DF | 5 | Tarek Salman | | 83' |
| Manager: ||
| Félix Sánchez ||
| GK | 16 | Édouard Mendy |
| RB | 21 | Youssouf Sabaly |
| CB | 3 | Kalidou Koulibaly (c) |
| CB | 22 | Abdou Diallo |
| LB | 14 | Ismail Jakobs | 52' | 78' |
| RM | 18 | Ismaïla Sarr | | 74' |
| CM | 6 | Nampalys Mendy | | 78' |
| CM | 5 | Idrissa Gueye |
| LM | 15 | Krépin Diatta | | 64' |
| CF | 9 | Boulaye Dia | 30' |
| CF | 19 | Famara Diédhiou | | 74' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 11 | Pathé Ciss | 87' | 64' |
| FW | 13 | Iliman Ndiaye | | 74' |
| FW | 20 | Bamba Dieng | | 74' |
| DF | 4 | Pape Abou Cissé | | 78' |
| MF | 17 | Pape Matar Sarr | | 78' |
| Manager: ||
| Aliou Cissé ||
* Man of the Match:
* Boulaye Dia (Senegal)
* Assistant referees:
* Pau Cebrián Devís (Spain)
* Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (Spain)
* Fourth official:
* Kevin Ortega (Peru)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Djibril Camara (Senegal)
* Video assistant referee:
* Drew Fischer (Canada)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Fernando Guerrero (Mexico)
* Nicolás Taran (Uruguay)
* Adil Zourak (Morocco)
* Stand-by assistant video assistant referee:
* Bruno Pires (Brazil)

### Netherlands vs Ecuador

The two teams had faced each other twice, most recently in 2014, a 1–1 draw in a friendly.
In the sixth minute of the match, Cody Gakpo cut inside and shot into the left corner of the net from just outside the penalty area to put the Netherlands in front. Just before the first half ended, Ecuadorian defender Pervis Estupiñán deflected his teammate's shot in, but the goal was called offside. Four minutes into the second half, Enner Valencia scored his third goal of the tournament to equalize for Ecuador, converting the rebound after goalkeeper Andries Noppert had saved a shot from Estupiñán. Despite Ecuador later hitting the crossbar, the game saw no further goals and ended in a 1–1 draw.
| Netherlands | Ecuador |
| GK | 23 | Andries Noppert |
| CB | 2 | Jurriën Timber |
| CB | 4 | Virgil van Dijk (c) |
| CB | 5 | Nathan Aké |
| RM | 22 | Denzel Dumfries |
| CM | 20 | Teun Koopmeiners | 79' |
| CM | 21 | Frenkie de Jong |
| LM | 17 | Daley Blind |
| AM | 14 | Davy Klaassen | 69' |
| CF | 8 | Cody Gakpo | 79' |
| CF | 7 | Steven Bergwijn | 46' |
| Substitutions: ||
| FW | 10 | Memphis Depay | 46' |
| MF | 11 | Steven Berghuis | 69' |
| FW | 19 | Wout Weghorst | 79' |
| MF | 15 | Marten de Roon | 79' |
| Manager: ||
| Louis van Gaal ||
| GK | 1 | Hernán Galíndez |
| CB | 25 | Jackson Porozo |
| CB | 2 | Félix Torres |
| CB | 3 | Piero Hincapié |
| RM | 17 | Ángelo Preciado |
| CM | 20 | Jhegson Méndez | 57' |
| CM | 23 | Moisés Caicedo |
| LM | 7 | Pervis Estupiñán |
| AM | 19 | Gonzalo Plata | | 90' |
| AM | 13 | Enner Valencia (c) | | 90' |
| CF | 11 | Michael Estrada | | 74' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 16 | Jeremy Sarmiento | | 74' |
| MF | 10 | Romario Ibarra | | 90' |
| FW | 26 | Kevin Rodríguez | | 90' |
| Manager: ||
| Gustavo Alfaro ||
* Man of the Match:
* Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands)
* Assistant referees:
* Mokrane Gourari (Algeria)
* Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria)
* Fourth official:
* Saíd Martínez (Honduras)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Helpys Raymundo Feliz (Dominican Republic)
* Video assistant referee:
* Shaun Evans (Australia)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)
* Ashley Beecham (Australia)
* Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)
* Stand-by assistant video assistant referee:
* Anton Shchetinin (Australia)

### Ecuador vs Senegal

The two teams had faced each other twice, most recently in 2005, a 2–1 win for Senegal in a friendly.
In the 44th minute, Senegal's Ismaïla Sarr was fouled in the penalty area by Piero Hincapié, with Sarr scoring the resulting penalty low to the right corner. In the 67th minute, Moisés Caicedo put Ecuador level when he finished from close range after the ball had reached him from a Félix Torres corner. With twenty minutes left in the match, captain Kalidou Koulibaly scored his first ever international goal with a volley from six yards out to put Senegal back in front.
Ecuador's loss eliminated them in the group stage for a third time after 2002 and 2014, while Senegal advanced to the knockout stage for a second time and the first since 2002.
| Ecuador | Senegal |
| GK | 1 | Hernán Galíndez |
| RB | 17 | Ángelo Preciado | 85' |
| CB | 2 | Félix Torres |
| CB | 3 | Piero Hincapié |
| LB | 7 | Pervis Estupiñán |
| DM | 8 | Carlos Gruezo | 46' |
| CM | 21 | Alan Franco | 46' |
| CM | 23 | Moisés Caicedo |
| RF | 19 | Gonzalo Plata |
| CF | 11 | Michael Estrada | 64' |
| LF | 13 | Enner Valencia (c) |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 5 | José Cifuentes | 46' |
| MF | 16 | Jeremy Sarmiento | 46' |
| FW | 24 | Djorkaeff Reasco | 64' |
| DF | 25 | Jackson Porozo | 85' |
| Manager: ||
| Gustavo Alfaro ||
| GK | 16 | Édouard Mendy |
| RB | 21 | Youssouf Sabaly |
| CB | 3 | Kalidou Koulibaly (c) |
| CB | 22 | Abdou Diallo |
| LB | 14 | Ismail Jakobs |
| CM | 11 | Pathé Ciss | | 74' |
| CM | 26 | Pape Gueye |
| RW | 13 | Iliman Ndiaye | | 74' |
| AM | 5 | Idrissa Gueye | 66' |
| LW | 18 | Ismaïla Sarr |
| CF | 9 | Boulaye Dia | | 90+5' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 6 | Nampalys Mendy | | 74' |
| FW | 20 | Bamba Dieng | | 74' |
| DF | 4 | Pape Abou Cissé | | 90+5' |
| Manager: ||
| Aliou Cissé ||
* Man of the Match:
* Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal)
* Assistant referees:
* Nicolas Danos (France)
* Cyril Gringore (France)
* Fourth official:
* István Kovács (Romania)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Ovidiu Artene (Romania)
* Video assistant referee:
* Jérôme Brisard (France)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Benoît Millot (France)
* Ciro Carbone (Italy)
* Drew Fischer (Canada)
* Stand-by assistant video assistant referee:
* Alessandro Giallatini (Italy)

### Netherlands vs Qatar

The two teams had never met before.
Cody Gakpo scored his third goal of the tournament to put the Netherlands in front in the 26th minute, cutting in from the left to score with a right-foot finish from just inside the penalty area. Frenkie de Jong made it 2–0 four minutes into the second half when he followed up to poke into the net from close range after goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham had saved a shot from Memphis Depay.
In losing to the Netherlands, Qatar became the first World Cup hosts in history to suffer three defeats and fail to earn a single point.
| Netherlands | Qatar |
| GK | 23 | Andries Noppert |
| CB | 2 | Jurriën Timber |
| CB | 4 | Virgil van Dijk (c) |
| CB | 5 | Nathan Aké | 52' |
| RM | 22 | Denzel Dumfries |
| CM | 15 | Marten de Roon | | 82' |
| CM | 21 | Frenkie de Jong | | 86' |
| LM | 17 | Daley Blind |
| AM | 14 | Davy Klaassen | | 66' |
| CF | 8 | Cody Gakpo | | 82' |
| CF | 10 | Memphis Depay | | 66' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 11 | Steven Berghuis | | 66' |
| FW | 18 | Vincent Janssen | | 66' |
| FW | 19 | Wout Weghorst | | 82' |
| MF | 20 | Teun Koopmeiners | | 82' |
| MF | 24 | Kenneth Taylor | | 86' |
| Manager: ||
| Louis van Gaal ||
| GK | 22 | Meshaal Barsham |
| CB | 2 | Ró-Ró |
| CB | 16 | Boualem Khoukhi |
| CB | 3 | Abdelkarim Hassan |
| RWB | 17 | Ismaeel Mohammad | 85' |
| LWB | 14 | Homam Ahmed |
| CM | 10 | Hassan Al-Haydos (c) | 64' |
| CM | 23 | Assim Madibo | 64' |
| CM | 6 | Abdulaziz Hatem | 85' |
| CF | 19 | Almoez Ali | 64' |
| CF | 11 | Akram Afif |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 8 | Ali Assadalla | 64' |
| MF | 12 | Karim Boudiaf | 64' |
| FW | 9 | Mohammed Muntari | 64' |
| DF | 13 | Musab Kheder | 85' |
| FW | 7 | Ahmed Alaaeldin | 85' |
| Manager: ||
| Félix Sánchez ||
* Man of the Match:
* Davy Klaassen (Netherlands)
* Assistant referees:
* Elvis Noupue (Cameroon)
* Mahmoud Abouelregal (Egypt)
* Fourth official:
* Ma Ning (China)
* Reserve assistant referee:
* Cao Yi (China)
* Video assistant referee:
* Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)
* Assistant video assistant referees:
* Adil Zourak (Morocco)
* Mokrane Gourari (Algeria)
* Julio Bascuñán (Chile)
* Stand-by assistant video assistant referee:
* Zakhele Siwela (South Africa)

## Discipline

Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:
* first yellow card: −1 point;
* indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
* direct red card: −4 points;
* yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions were applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points |
| Netherlands | 1 | | 1 | −2 |
| Ecuador | 2 | 1 | | −3 |
| Senegal | 2 | 3 | 1 | −6 |
| Qatar | 4 | 3 | | −7 |