Senegal vs Netherlands

Back at the FIFA World Cup finals after missing out in 2018, the Netherlands embark on their Group A campaign against AFCON champions Senegal.

Only months since defeating Egypt via a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out to win their first-ever AFCON title, Senegal ousted the same opposition in the World Cup playoff final using the same recipe. The ‘Lions of Teranga‘ arrive in Qatar to make amends for a frustrating group-stage elimination four years ago, courtesy of an inferior fair-play record to Japan. After captaining Senegal to the country’s best-ever run in the World Cup finals (quarter-finals), Aliou Cisse will have to lead his side in Qatar without headline performer Sadio Mane. With the Bayern Munich forward picking up a tournament-ending injury, the African heavyweights will face an uphill task to maintain their 100% unbeaten ratio against European nations in the World Cup group stages (W2, D2).

Louis van Gaal’s third stint at the national team’s helm has been a resounding success, with the 71-year-old inspiring the ‘Oranje‘ to a scintillating 15-game unbeaten streak (W11, D4) since taking charge in September 2021. Since he has already announced he’ll retire at the end of the tournament, the Netherlands will be out to make an impression following a sub-par last-16 exit at Euro 2022 last summer. They can draw confidence from their stellar four-match unbeaten World Cup record against CAF nations (W3, D1). On top of that, prone to kicking things off from the get-go, the Netherlands are unbeaten in their last eight curtain-raising fixtures at the World Cup (W6, D2).