FIFA World Cup: Qatar hold Switzerland, earn first-ever point
What's the story
In a thrilling turn of events, Qatar scored a dramatic equalizer in stoppage time to draw 1-1 with Switzerland in their opening match at the FIFA World Cup. The Group B game was played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Boualem Khoukhi scored the historic goal for Qatar, giving them their first-ever point at a World Cup finals.
Match highlights
Embolo gives Switzerland lead in 1st half
Switzerland took an early lead in the match with a penalty from Breel Embolo. The striker scored after Remo Freuler was fouled by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada. However, there were doubts over whether Bologna midfielder had been marginally offside in the build-up to the goal. Despite dominating possession and creating several chances, Switzerland failed to extend their lead, with Dan Ndoye, Ruben Vargas, and Embolo himself missing clear-cut opportunities.
Equalizer
Khoukhi's late equalizer stuns Switzerland
Despite being outclassed for long periods, Qatar managed to snatch an unlikely point in the dying moments of the match. Khoukhi scored a header from Homam El Amin's cross four minutes into injury time, sparking wild celebrations among Julen Lopetegui's squad. The goal came as a shock to Switzerland, who had been dominating the match and were on their way to topping Group B with two tougher tests ahead against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada.
Historical significance
Historic moment for Qatar and Lopetegui
The match against Switzerland was just Qatar's second appearance at the World Cup finals after hosting the tournament in 2022. The team looked rusty due to the cancelation of two warm-up friendlies amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Despite these challenges, Khoukhi's late equalizer marked a historic moment for Qatar and their coach Julen Lopetegui, who was making his World Cup debut after being sacked as Spain manager days before the 2018 tournament.
Information
Khoukhi enters World Cup record books
As per Opta, Khoukhi's equaliser for Qatar is the third-latest equalizer in the group stages of the FIFA World Cup on record (since 1966). It's behind only Silvestre Varela for Portugal vs USA in 2014 (94:34) and Luis Hernández for Mexico vs Netherlands in 1998 (94:04).
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Here are the match stats
From 7 attempts, Qatar had four shots on target. Switzerland managed 26 attempts with just 7 shots on target. Switzerland also had 42 touches in the opposition box compared to Qatar's 9. Switzerland dominated possession (68.10%). Meanwhile, they completed a whopping 198 passes in the final third. Qatar managed 24 such passes.