Senegal v Netherlands 0-2: World Cup 2022 – as it happened

So the Netherlands mark their return to the World Cup after eight years with a win. Senegal weren’t at their best, but they should find easier opposition in Ecuador and Qatar in their remaining group fixtures.

You can read the report from this Group A encounter at Al Thumama Stadium here.

All attention now turns to the Group B encounter between the USA and Wales. You can find the live blog for that game here.

The orange army are happy with the result but know it was not a stellar performance from their team.

“I thought it will be easy, but it wasn’t,” fan Ron Tubee told Al Jazeera. “Senegal were very good, very fast, strong and discipline.”

“I think when Depay came on, he turned things around,” Tubee said. “After this game, I think we will be first in the group now.”

It was a match of few clear-cut chances but not short on passion.

“Very close match,” Peter Tobben said. “They didn’t deserve to lose. Our first half performance was slow.”

“They had chances,” he added. “Senegal is very strong team.”

In the build-up to the World Cup, Van Gaal talked up his team and said they are better than the 2014 squad that came third. Their opening performance didn’t do much to back up his words, but there are some positives.

Cody Gakpo’s goal, De Jong’s poise in midfield and Noppert’s solid debut are encouraging signs for the Dutch.

Despite their team losing 2-0, Senegal’s fans remain upbeat.

“In general, we played a good game,” said Abubakar Thiam, who came from Paris to watch the Teranga Lions play in Qatar. “We have a good team.”

“You know in football you also need luck, and today, we did not have it. We will do better in the next games,” Thiam told Al Jazeera.

It would be fair to say that the less worse team won.

A picture tells a thousands words and all that.

✅ Clean sheet

✅ Three points

Not a bad start to Van Dijk’s World Cup career.

Not a classic, but the Netherlands won’t care. They had to work hard for this win, but they begin their World Cup campaign with a victory.

Goal for the Netherlands!

Mendy parries Depay’s weak shot, and Davy Klaassen is on hand to turn in the rebound. Poor goalkeeping by the Chelsea man there.

It’s all rather scrappy now with the Netherlands winding down the clock and the Senegalese tempers fraying.

It would be reductive to say Senegal has missed Mane, but Senegal has missed Mane.

Cody Gakpo is going off for the Netherlands. But he’s done his job. Listen closely and you’ll hear the big clubs of Europe circling around him.

Eight minutes of injury time to be played!

Senegal showing a sense of urgency here. Diop forces a smart save from Noppert. They’ve won two corners since conceding.

Goal for the Netherlands!

Cody Gakpo heads in de Jong’s enticing cross, and the Netherlands have liftoff at the World Cup. Unsurprisingly, it’s created by the best Dutch players of the night.

One Dutch fan was talking to Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed at the stadium a few minutes ago:

“Very boring,” Hossam Tagi said, shaking his head. “This is not the Dutch way to play football. We look very nervous.”

“There is mistakes everywhere. We have one big chance and should have taken it.”

Wonder if he still feels the same?

Oranje is the new boring?

It’s been a poor half so far. The fluency that marked the first 45 minutes has been lacking.

Kouyate is stretchered off after being fouled by de Jong. Papa Alassane Gueye comes on in his place.

Andries Noppert has now touched the ball twice in this second half.

Noppert, who plays in goal for Dutch team Heerenveen, had considered quitting the game just a few years ago. He was struggling for game time, and his wife wanted him to pack it all in and get a proper job as a police officer.

But the more than 2-metre-tall (six-foot-eight-inch) keeper kept working on his game, and on Monday, the 28-year-old made his debut for the Netherlands national team at the World Cup in Qatar.

The lesson? Stick with your dreams, kids.