We have the first surprise of the opening round of the 2026 World Cup group stage!

Switzerland, who had taken the lead from a controversial penalty, dominated the match – but conceded in stoppage time as Qatar snatched a 1-1 draw.

📌The goal arrived in the 90+5th minute from a cross, and the celebrations among the Qatar players were wild.

After the final whistle, there were even tears – including from the goalkeeper who had conceded the penalty.

📌The result is historic for Qatar.

This is only their second World Cup appearance. At their home tournament in 2022, they lost all three matches, producing the worst performance ever by a host nation.

As a result, this draw earned Qatar their first-ever World Cup point.

📌 Switzerland’s statistical dominance was truly remarkable. They finished with a 24-5 advantage in chances created, yet the scoreline ended 1-1.

These and other statistics were available live through Tribuna.com’s match centre.

📌 It was also a symbolic day for head coach Julen Lopetegui, whose World Cup story is a unique one.

In 2018, he had guided Spain to the tournament but was fired… one day before their opening match.

The reason? Just before the World Cup began, Real Madrid announced that Lopetegui would become their new manager after the tournament.

However, the Spanish Football Federation had not been informed of the negotiations and was presented with a fait accompli shortly before the announcement.

“We were forced to part ways with the national team coach.

The negotiations took place without any information being provided to the RFEF. We were informed only five minutes before the press release. There is a proper way to do things that must be respected. This is the Spain national team – you cannot act like that.”

That was the explanation given by federation president Luis Rubiales.

Fernando Hierro took charge of Spain at the tournament, where they were knocked out by the host nation in the Round of 16 on penalties. Lopetegui, meanwhile, was later dismissed by Real Madrid after just 14 matches at the start of a disappointing season.

As for Qatar’s dramatic equaliser, Lopetegui’s reaction was remarkably calm.

While everyone around him erupted in celebration, the coach simply took a sip of water.

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