🏆 England held to stalemate; Netherlands draw; Iran and Senegal win | OneFootball

All the teams have now played their first match at the World Cup, so it’s time for round two.

Follow along with us for all of the action.

Blunt England held to goalless draw

Scorers:

England and USA played out a turgid 0-0 draw on Friday night that kept Group B alive going into the final round of games.

England named an unchanged team from the one that beat Iran 6-2 as Gareth Southgate’s side looked for the three points that would take them into the last 16.

Harry Kane went close to scoring inside the opening 10 minutes as the Tottenham man found space inside the area but saw his shot deflected just wide.

England were struggling to make their class show though, and on the break the USMNT almost broke the deadlock.

Weston McKennie got on the end of a cross from the right-hand side but saw his effort fly over the bar from 12 yards.

Christian Pulisic was the next to go close as the Chelsea forward saw his effort from the edge of the area crash off the bar.

The Three Lions rallied late on and had two chances through Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount, but neither hit the target.

Into the second half and once again England looked incredibly lethargic in possession with the front three increasingly isolated in the final third.

The game was heading for a draw but with England needing a spark Southgate opted to bring on Jordan Henderson to much derision.

Qatar out after Ecuador rescue Dutch draw

Scorers: Gakpo 6′; Valencia 49′

Enner Valencia kept up his World Cup scoring streak to secure a comeback point for Ecuador against the Netherlands, a result which sees hosts Qatar become the first side to be eliminated from this year’s competition.

Netherlands got off to the ideal start when Cody Gakpo thundered in a fantastic left-footed strike from the edge of the area for the fastest goal of the competition so far, coming in at five minutes and four seconds.

With the final kick of the first half, Ecuador, who were the better side after conceding, thought they had equalised when Pervis Estupiñán diverted the ball home, only for it to be ruled out for a very narrow offside call.

But four minutes after the restart, La Tri did get the leveller they deserved when Andries Noppert parried into the path of Valencia and he continued his hot streak to net his third of the competition from close range.

It means he has now netted his country’s last six successive World Cup goals but Gonzalo Plata almost ended his run moments later when he fired a vicious strike at goal, only to be denied a famous winner by the crossbar.

The result leaves both sides well placed to progress to the last 16, with Qatar eliminated on zero points after two games, although Ecuador were dealt a huge late blow when captain and talisman Valencia was stretchered off the field.

Senegal see off Qatar to boost hopes

Scorers: Muntari 78′; Dia 41′, Diédhiou 48′, Dieng 84′

Senegal are the first African side to win at the 2022 World Cup after surviving the threat of a second half Qatar comeback.

The Africans were the better side for large parts of the first half on Friday, dominating possession as well as the shot count, but perhaps the most dangerous attack of the opening 35 minutes came at the other end, only for Akram Afif to go to ground rather than getting a shot away. Referee Mateu Lahoz was not interested in the host’s claims for a penalty.

That broke up any momentum Senegal had been building but they were handed the opener on a platter. A hopeful flat ball into the box did not look dangerous at first but Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi fluffed his attempted clearance and could not react as quickly as Boulaye Dia, who pounced on the ball to drive it inside the near post.

It didn’t take Senegal long after the break to double their lead, as a dangerous Ismail Jakobs corner was met by Famara Diédhiou, brilliantly angled his body at the near post to direct a stooping header inside the far post.

Qatar responded well, with Abdelkarim Hassan going close from long range before Almoez Ali finally called Édouard Mendy into action from the edge of the box. That seemed to wake the hosts up but, unfortunately for them, it did the same for Mendy, who reacted brilliantly to deny Ismael Mohamed low down after the defender had directed a cross goalwards.

The threat was not over there and Qatar finally got their first World Cup goal when Mohammed Muntari powered a header home from a cross from the right. But any hope of a comeback was short-lived. Senegal pushed on and some combination saw Iliman Ndiaye free on the right. His perfect cutback was slotted home by Bamba Dieng.

Stoppage time Iran winner breaks Welsh hearts

Scorers: Cheshmi 90+8′, Rezaeian 90+11′

A dramatic late show from Iran gave them a deserved 2-0 win over Wales, their first ever win over European opposition.

Kieffer Moore was handed a place in the starting lineup for Wales after a superb substitute performance against USA, and duly forced a save from Hossein Hosseini in the early stages of the game.

It was Iran that first had the ball in the back of the net, but Ali Gholizadeh went too early with his run and was ruled to be offside.

The game sprung into life early in the second half when Sardar Azmoun hit Wales’ right-hand post, and just seconds later hit the left-hand post with a curling effort.

As Iran ramped up the pressure Wayne Hennessey was called into action, making an excellent save low to his right-hand side on a shot from Saeed Ezatolahi.

After a good move from Wales, Ben Davies forced Hosseini to tip his powerful shot over the bar, before Wayne Hennessey was sent off after a VAR review for a crazy challenge on Mehdi Taremi outside the box.

With substitute goalkeeper Danny Ward between the sticks, Iran almost had the lead late on when Medhi Torabi’s shot went inches wide of the post.

It was heartbreak for the Welsh as – with their defence sucked deep and out of position – Rouzbeh Cheshmi fired home in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

And it was soon 2-0 as Iran broke away and Ramin Rezaeian beat Ward with a chipped goal to leave Wales in despair.

Find details of yesterday’s matches here.