But Cody Gakpo, who scored in all three group games, gives the Netherlands a cutting edge up front, and the fact that they are now unbeaten in 18 games means they will have plenty of belief going into the knockout stage, where the runners up in Group B await. Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 11:56 AM ESTFULL TIME! All over here and the Netherlands could not have wished for an easier final group game.
Right, I'm off to watch England versus Wales. Thanks for joining me! Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 12:14 PM ESTWhat next for Qatar? Probably an inquest into where it all went wrong. Qatar have gone down in history as the first host nation to lose all three of their World Cup group games and, in truth, looked totally out of their depth. Given how they performed at the 2019 Asian Cup, you can't but think that they really haven't done themselves justice.
There will be six minutes of added time. Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 11:46 AM ESTMore Qatar subs87': Ismaeel Mohammed, who has at least tried to make things happen on the right for Qatar, is off along with Abdulaziz Hatem. Ahmed Alaa and Musaab Khidir are on. If you were hoping for more match action, there's been precious little. Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 11:44 AM ESTTime to give a few people a game83': Cody Gakpo and Marten de Roon have been withdrawn. Teun Koopmeiners and Wout Weghorst are on in their place. A good night's work for Gakpo again...
Goals from Cody Gakpo, who is now the joint-leading scorer in this World Cup, and Frenkie de Jong gave the Dutch a routine – and it really was routine (like getting out of bed on a morning) – victory over a desperately poor Qatar team. What can we say about the hosts? They're out, they scored one goal and lost all three matches. No wonder their coach Felix Sanchez looks so forlorn. Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 11:51 AM ESTCrossbar! 90+2': Steven Berghuis, who had a goal ruled out earlier, hits the bar with a terrific left-footed shot from the edge of the area. Meshaal Barsham, the Qatar keeper, was well beaten there. Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 11:49 AM ESTGoalscorer departs90': Frenkie de Jong has been replaced by Kenneth Taylor. The subs – we're into double figures now – haven't exactly helped the flow of the game.
It was more of a pass back. Stuart James·Football WriterNovember 29, 2022 at 11:33 AM ESTDouble substitution for the Dutch73': The game is drifting. Some fresh legs for the Dutch: Steven Berghuis, who thought he had scored within seconds of coming on, replaced Davy Klaassen, while Memphis Depay made way for Vincent Janssen. Janssen... what a comeback he's had.