In a tournament full of upsets, the 2022 World Cup was not to be for the host country Qatar.
Qatar became the first team to be eliminated from group play after losing its first two games. The host nation returned to the pitch one final time on Tuesday against Netherlands, looking for points to conclude its World Cup debut on a high note.
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Instead Qatar leaves the 2022 tournament empty-handed, without a single point as the Dutch went on to clinch Group A with a 2-0 win.
Qatar opened this year's World Cup on Nov. 20 with a match against Ecuador. A first-half brace by Enner Valencia was too much for Qatar as it became the first-ever host country to lose its opening game.
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The historical struggles continued for Qatar in the second game. While Mohammed Muntari came off the bench to record Qatar its first-ever World Cup goal, the Senegalese offense was overwhelming, pouring in three goals for the win.
How did Qatar fare at the 2022 World Cup
The host nation has been eliminated along with Ecuador as Netherlands and Senegal advance from Group A play to the knockout stage
This loss made Qatar the first country definitively eliminated from knockout contention at the tournament and placed it with South Africa as the only other host country to be eliminated in the group stage.
In Tuesday's match, the young duo of Cody Gakpo and Frenkie de Jong got the best of Qatari goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham and denied Qatar morale point.
While Qatar only got five shots off -- compared to the Netherlands' 13 -- three of them were on goal and they continued to get quality looks, including a run in the 80th minute but Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert made save after save to ensure his team the top spot in the knockout round out of Group A.
