FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar: Iran beats Wales, Morocco stun No.2 ranked Belgium

28 Nov 2022 By Know Muslim

If we call this World Cup “the World Cup of Upsets”, you all will be agree on this. The Second round of group games has couple of shocking results just like we witnessed in the first round of group games.

Match Results of 2nd round of Group stages:

Group A:

Qatar vs Senegal: The Host side is the first team who got eliminated from the World Cup 2022. Senegalese side dominated the game, defeated the host Qatar by 3 goals to 1. Boulaye Dia scored the first goal for Senegal in the 41st minute. Senegal wasn’t done there as Famara Diedhiou put in a header in the 48th minute. Qatar would answer with a goal by Mohammed Muntari in the 78th. Senegal would answer right back when Bamba Dieng scored in the 84th minute.

Netherlands vs Ecuador: A close encounter between two exciting teams at the Khalifa International stadium. Cody Gakpo opened the scoring with a left footed screamer in the 6th minute of first half. But the Dutch was denied the victory with an equaliser by Enner Valencia in the 49th minute. Overall, Ecuador dominated the game against the Netherlands.

Group B:

Iran vs Wales: As their disappointing heavy opening defeat to England, Iran bounced back with a bang after beating Wales by 2 goals to nil. Iran was up to their mark in the attacking region but couldn’t find the opener. On the 86th minute, Wayne Hennessey got the Red Card for fouling Mehdi Taremi at outside of the box with the possible goal scoring chance. Iran took full advantage of Wales being down to ten men and scored two injury time goals by Cheshmi and Rezaeian to kept Iran hopes for the knockout stages alive.

England vs USA: England blow chance to qualify for the World Cup knockout phase with a match to spare in a 0-0 draw with USA.

Group C:

Poland vs Saudi Arabia: Robert Lewandowski scored his first ever World Cup goal as Poland brought Saudi Arabia back down to earth with a smash on Saturday with a 2-0 Group C victory that revived their tournament campaign. Lewandowski, who missed a penalty in Poland's opening draw with Mexico and was visibly emotional after finding the net, pounced on a mistake in the 82nd minute to double Poland's lead after Piotr Zielinski had given them a first-half lead.

Argentina vs Mexico: Lionel Messi rescued Argentina from the brink of World Cup elimination, scoring the crucial opening goal in the 64th minute in a 2-0 win over Mexico at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar to put the South American champions back on track to reach the last 16. Then, Enzo Fernandez curled in a brilliant first goal for his country in the 87th minute to ensure the vital three points.

Group D:

Australia vs Tunisia: The Socceroos pulled off just their third World Cup win in 18 matches with a thrilling 1-0 victory over Tunisia in Saturday. The victory was Australia’s first win at a men’s World Cup since 2010, while it was also the Socceroos’ first clean sheet since 1974.

France vs Denmark: France became the first team to qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup as Kylian Mbappe’s double sent them to a 2-1 win over Denmark in Group D. Mbappe scored the first of his two poacher-like efforts when converting a cross from Theo Hernandez on 61 minutes. Despite falling behind, Denmark wasn’t panic and they were level seven minutes later when Andreas Christensen headed home as the French shaken defensively from a Christian Eriksen corner. Both teams had chances to win it late on but it was Mbappe that provided the decisive moment, again showing sharp destructive skills to bag home an Antoine Griezmann cross with four minutes remaining.

Group E:

Japan vs Costa Rica: Costa Rica exploded their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Japan at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. Costa Rica made Japan pay for their failure to capitalise on their attacking superiority when Keysher Fuller curled a shot over Shuichi Gonda (81) with the team's first shot on target in the tournament.

Germany vs Spain: Substitute Niclas Fullkrug revived Germany’s World Cup challenge with a blistering late equalising strike to claim a precious point against Spain at Al Bayt Stadium. Spain appeared on course for a second successive victory and a huge step towards the last 16 after Alvaro Morata came off the bench to convert a 62nd-minute Jordi Alba cross. But Fullkrug crashed an unstoppable strike past Unai Simon to earn a crucial point for Hansi Flick’s team.

Group F:

Morocco vs Belgium: Morocco pulled off an upset of Belgium, winning 2-0 at Al-Thumama Stadium in Qatar. The win puts Morocco in a good spot entering the final stage of group play. Abdelhamid Sabiri scored one of the top goals of the tournament, connecting on a free kick to give Morocco a 1-0 lead in the second half before assisting on its second goal of the match.

Croatia vs Canada: Croatia closed in on the last 16 with victory on Sunday evening as Canada exited the tournament after this second straight Group F defeat. Alphonso Davies scored Canada’s first FIFA World Cup goal but John Herdman’s team are out of Qatar 2022 after 2018 runners-up Croatia recovered from conceding in the second minute for an ultimately comfortable 4-1 victory.