Qatar kicked off their 2022 World Cup European qualifiers campaign with a hard-earned 1-0 win over Luxembourg at Nagyerdei Stadium in Hungary.
Mohammed Muntari scored the only goal of the game after just thirteen minutes with a close-range finish after a low cross from Al-Moez Ali who dispossessed Lars Krogh Gerson on the edge of the box.
Luxembourg had most of the possession and came close to an equaliser on several occasions, but they were denied by an in-form goalkeeper. Saad Al-Sheeb who started the game after an injury to his clubmate Meshaal Barshim made several crucial saves. Maurice Deville’s header hit the crossbar late in the first half, while Pedro Miguel also hit the woodwork twice in the second half.
Qatar joined group A of the European qualifiers after receiving an invitation from UEFA, but the results of their matches will not count into the group standing.
The next game for Qatar will be against Azerbaijan on Saturday before they face the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday. Both games will take place in Debrecen.
Match Info
Date: 24 March 2021
Venue: Nagyerdei Stadium
City: Debrecen, Hungary
Qatar 1 (Muntari 13’)
Luxembourg
Qatar
Saad Al-Sheeb
Bassam Al-Rawi
Boualem Khoukhi
Tarek Salman
Pedro Miguel
Abdelkarim Hassan
Karim Boudiaf
Abdulaziz Hatem
Hassan Al-Haydos
(Salem Al-Hajri 81’)
Mohammed Muntari
(Ahmed Alaaeldin 65’)
Al-Moez Ali
(Yusuf Abdurisag 90’)
Luxembourg
Anthony Moris
Lars Krogh Gerson
(Enes Mahmutovic 46’)
Maxime Chanot
Laurent Jans
(Eldin Dzogovic 71’)
Mica Pinto
(Marvin Martins 10’)
Christopher Martins
(Aldin Skenderovic 60’)
Sebastien Thill
Florian Bohnert
Danel Sinani
(Olivier Thill 59’)
Edvin Muratovic
Maurice Deville
(Gerson Rodrigues 70’)
Yellow Cards
Mica Pinto, Maxime Chanot, Aldin Skenderovic, Gerson Rodrigues (Luxembourg)
Pedro Miguel, Saad Al-Sheeb (Qatar)
Red Cards
Aldin Skenderovic (88’ – Second Yellow)