With the final blow of the whistle, Qatar’s World Cup comes to a close as the Netherlands win 2-0 at Al Bayt Stadium. Netherlands were able to take the early lead thanks to Gakpo’s third goal of the tournament. De Jong added another in the second half as they looked to solidify their position at the top of the group. The Associated Press has the story:
Netherlands beats host Qatar 2-0, reaches last 16
Newslooks- AL KHOR, Qatar (AP)
The Netherlands finished off the worst showing by any World Cup host nation by beating Qatar 2-0 on Tuesday.
The Dutch advanced to the round of 16 while the Qataris, who were already eliminated, became the first host to lose all three of its group matches at soccer’s biggest event.
Cody Gakpo put the Netherlands ahead midway through the first half with his third goal in as many matches and Frenkie de Jong doubled the advantage five minutes into the second half.
The Netherlands is a three-time runner-up at the World Cup, and also finished third in 2014, while Qatar was making its tournament debut.
The Dutch failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Netherlands could have scored more, I think Louis van Gaal would probably have wanted more. Steven Berghuis had a third goal ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up and also hit the upright.
The headlines will be all about Cody Gakpo again, though, after his third goal of this World Cup. Qatar finish with zero points.
They could have made it three if it wasn’t for the disallowed goal due to the untimely handball by Gakpo.
Qatar did have their moments though, and despite not being able to get onto the score sheet, they will be pleased to have contained the Dutch to just the two goals.
Netherlands take top spot in Group A with seven points, while Senegal, after their 2-1 win over Ecuador, finish runners-up with six points.
Ecuador and Qatar will have to say goodbye though as they exit the tournament having compiled four and zero points respectively.
We thank you again for joining us and urge you to check out our live blog coverage of the upcoming England-Wales and Iran-USA matches to follow later today.
But before you do head off, make sure to get all the details of this match in our report here.
