The United States of America and Wales had settled for a 1:1 in the second Group B match. Earlier in the day, England had beaten Iran 6:2, to go top of the group.
The USA controlled the first half of Monday’s encounter at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, going ahead in the half, but Gareth Bale – Wales’ record goalscorer snatched an equaliser in the second half to ensure the game did not end in defeat.
Timothy Weah had put the USA deservedly ahead in the first half, scoring in a World Cup when his illustrious father – 1995 Ballon d’Or winner George – was never able to play in one.
But Bale, largely anonymous before his late show, drew a rash tackle from Walker Zimmerman and duly smashed home the resulting spot-kick to seal a share of the spoils in Group B.
At the end of the day, England sits on top of Group B with 3 points, followed by Wales and USA with 1 point each and Iran sat at the bottom with no point.
In Group A, Netherlands left it late to beat Senegal 2:0, in the second match of the group. Ecuador had beaten the host, Qatar with the same 2:0 scoreline on Sunday, in the first match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
It took goals from Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen to give the Netherlands a 2-0 win over Senegal in their World Cup return at the Al Thumama Stadium on Monday.
The Oranje had produced a lacklustre performance in their first World Cup match since the 2014 tournament in Brazil, but secured all three points.
With just six minutes of regulation time left on the clock, Gakpo raced into the box and rose in front of Edouard Mendy to meet Frenkie de Jong’s cross with a header to break the deadlock.
Klaassen then sealed the win deep into stoppage time, applying a simple finish after Mendy could only palm Depay’s tame shot into his path.
With its win, Netherlands went top of Group with 3 points followed by Ecaudor with same 3 points. Senegal and Qatar are in 3rd and 4th positions respectively with no points.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
