Senegal and the Netherlands are the two teams that will kick-off the 2022 World Cup by facing each other in the opening match.

The two were drawn into Group A along with Ecuador and the hosts, Qatar, who play each other later in the day after England vs Iran.

Both sides will be relatively happy with the draw as although the hosts often do well in the competition, Qatar are unlikely to pose a major threat. Ecuador stand a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages but it’s the Netherlands and Senegal who are the more likely progressors.

Senegal will take confidence from their victory in the Africa Cup Of Nations after they made it through to the final and beat seven-time champions Egypt to win the competion for the first ever time.

The Netherlands failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and only made it through to the Round of 16 at Euro 2020 and so will be looking to rekindle the form that lead them to 2nd and 3rd placed finishes at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

It’s no surprise to see the Netherlands as favourites in this opening match of the 2022 World Cup. They qualified automatically by finishing top of Group G, winning seven and losing just one of their ten games played. They have one of the easier groups in the competition and will be mildly confident of making it through to the knockout stages.

The Netherlands have some key players that will be travelling in the squad to the World Cup with some of the more notable names including Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Memphis Depay (Barcelona), Georginio Wijnaldum (PSG), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Steven Bergwijn (Tottenham) and others.

They’re certainly a side capable of scoring goals as they proved throughout the qualifiers, netting 33 goals in 10 games. They’ll pose a threat to any team at this year’s tournament and will be a team to watch if they’re able to maintain good form.

Senegal shouldn’t be written off in this tournament and especially not in the group stages. They’re unlikely to beat the best teams in the world but can certainly hold themselves up against most in the competition. The fact that they won AFCON this year shows that they are a good enough team to be here and all eyes will be on Liverpool’s Sadio Mane as he aims to help his team progress in what is just their third ever World Cup finals.

As for a prediction, neither side will want to lose this match as they are the two favourites to progress out of the group. However, I can’t see Senegal outscoring the Netherlands and I expect the Dutch to pick up their first three points.

With both sides capable of goals, along with a single on the Netherlands at odds of 3/4 with William Hill, I’m also backing a Netherlands Win & Over 2.5 Goals which comes in at a best price of 2/1 with 10Bet.

Senegal vs Netherlands team news and line ups will be published here once full World Cup squads have been announced.