Qatar set unwanted record and become worst ever World Cup host nation

are officially the worst ever host nation, becoming the first team to stage the tournament and crash out after just two games.

While much of the debate around the Gulf state’s suitability to stage the biggest sporting event on the planet has centered on their human rights record and archaic LBGTQ+ laws, their footballing heritage, or lack thereof, has been largely overlooked.

After losing their first game against Ecuador on Sunday, where they failed to muster a single shot on target, Qatar fared slightly better against AFCON champions Senegal on Friday but eventually succumbed to a 3-1 defeat.

Appearing at their first ever World Cup, the writing was on the wall once Famara Diedhiou headed Senegal into a 2-0 lead shortly after half-time.

Mohammed Muntari did, at least, create a small slice of positive history when he reduced the deficit with 12 minutes remaining and scored Qatar’s first ever World Cup goal.

Their joy, however, was short-lived when Bamba Dieng fired home just six minutes later to confirm Senegal’s victory and prolong their involvement in the competition while also allowing Africa to celebrate its first victory.

‘Finally a win for an African team at the tournament,’ former Chelsea and Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba told the BBC.

‘But I would have loved to have seen more goals from Senegal. They stopped attacking at 2-1 and maybe this can cost them qualification later, who knows.

‘It’s in the balance for Senegal, I don’t think they played really well today but a lot will depend on how the Dutch team do against Ecuador.’

Senegal will have their fate in their own hands against the South Americans who drew 1-1 with Netherlands at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.

In-form striker Cody Gakpo gave Netherlands an early lead but Enner Valencia – who scored twice in Ecuador’s opening win over hosts Qatar – scored a second-half equaliser.

Qatar boss Felix Sanchez said: ‘Our goal was to be competitive. We have been working for so many months to be able to give a good performance.

‘But sometimes the match does not play out as you expect. It also depends on the opponents’ performance. We didn’t play at our top level.

‘We are aware of how tough this competition is. We wanted to go far but we know we had limitations as a country.’

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