World Cup Group A Predictions & Picks: Qatar, Netherlands, Senegal & Ecuador

Last updated: Dec 21, 2023, 5:13PM | Published: Jul 7, 2022, 8:33PM

The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar later this month and Dimers.com soccer writer and former professional Vincenzo Pugliese breaks down each of the groups, starting with predictions and best bets for Group A featuring Senegal, Netherlands, Qatar and Ecuador. As a wise-man once said, "without data, you're just another person with an opinion", so naturally we've let DimersBOT loose on the World Cup draw and the world's best predictive analytics model has simulated the entire 2022 World Cup over 10,000 times to identify which nations can win the tournament and which nations are just making up the numbers. Using the world-renowned Monte Carlo Simulations method, Dimers gives you the most wholistic view of the tournament and which teams are most likely to progress from their group and reach the knockout stages.

Download your complete guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar below.

Group A Prediction: Qatar

The host nation Qatar is set to make its FIFA World Cup debut. Since gaining independence from Great Britain in 1971, Qatar has failed to qualify for every tournament to date. They enter this edition of football's showpiece as the 2019 Asian Cup winners.

Head Coach Felix Sanchez, knows the task at hand The Spanish manager first arrived at the Qatar national team over 10 years ago, initially involved with the youth set up prior to taking over the senior team in 2017.

Qatar will be no stranger to the teams they have drawn in Group A.

The hosts have participated in a couple of other continental tournaments outside of Asia. Sanchez's men were invited to participate in the 2019 Copa America and 2021 Gold Cup in preparation for their World Cup debut here in 2022.

They, unsurprisingly, failed to get past the likes of Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay in 2019, however, they did manage to reach the 2021 Gold Cup semifinal, suffering a 1-0 loss to the United States.

Despite playing with a home crowd advantage, and coming in with a good run of form, Qatar is still expected to finish last in its group.

Qatar is +550 odds and only a 20.2% chance of just making it past the group stage. While, according to the Dimers predictive analytics model, Qatar is a 0.0% chance of winning the 2022 World Cup.

MORE: World Cup Match Predictions

Group A Prediction: Netherlands

The Netherlands return to the world stage after shockingly missing out on Russia 2018. The ‘Oranje’ look to restore International respect with a strong core of players and the return of a beloved manager.

Qatar 2022 will also feature the debut of Virgil van Dijk at a major international tournament. The long awaited CB partnership between VVD and Matthijs de Ligt could prove to be extremely hard to break down.

Louis Van Gaal’s men will look to make a strong case for themselves as Holland looks to revisit their deep World Cup runs after finishing 2nd in 2010 and 3rd in 2014. The Dutch currently find themselves in a good run of form and are undefeated in their last 15 matches.

The Netherlands features a number of dynamic young players including Cody Gakpo, 23, Ryan Gravenberch, 20, and Noa Lang, 23, all emerging as the nation's next generation of superstars.

The Netherlands will mainly rely on marksman Memphis Depay to deliver in-front of goal. The nation's second all-time leading goalscorer (42) will be hoping to help the three-time runners-up finally get their hands on that elusive trophy.

The Netherlands are +1300 odds to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 6.9% chance of doing so, according to the over 10,000 simulations Dimers ran for the tournament.

Group A Prediction: Senegal

Senegal will head into Qatar 2022 feeling very good about themselves. The Lions of Teranga will arrive at the FIFA World Cup as the current Kings of Africa. Earlier this year, the Senegaleese edged out Egypt in the African Cup of Nations Final, their first triumph of the competition.

The Lions find themselves in a historical period as they are set to make only their third appearance at the FIFA World Cup, previously featuring in Japan-South Korea 2002 and Russia 2018.

The No. 18 ranked FIFA team will be led by star players Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly in the injured Sadio Mane's absence. The core nucleus will prove to be pivotal for the tournament's dark horse and their hopes of a 2002 tournament repeat, when the Lions reached the quarterfinals, will be their goal this time around.

Senegal will be in great hands with Aliou Cisse set for a second consecutive World Cup as Senegal’s head coach.

Cisse captained the team to the 2002 quarterfinal finish, including an impressive 1-0 victory over defending world champion France.

The African side will be keen on adding to their recent team success and avoid the frustration from last time out. In 2018, Senegal became the first team in the tournament's history to be eliminated using the fair play rule, after being tied with Japan on six tiebreakers.

Senegal will arrive with their highest ever FIFA ranking and -135 odds of progressing out of Group A with a probability of 51.8% to make it through to the knockout stages.

Group A Prediction: Ecuador

Ecuador is set to make their fourth appearance at the FIFA World Cup and their qualification for Qatar 2022 concluded with some question marks upon their tournament advancement.

La Tri underwent an investigation into claims they fielded an ineligible player, Byron Castillo, throughout their qualification process.

The Chilean Soccer Federation filed a complaint to FIFA that the player used a fake certificate and nationality to falsely represent Ecuador in their attempt to reach the World Cup.

The governing body of football denied the file complaint and played down accusations against the 44th-ranked national team.

Ecuador will aim to make the Round of 16 for the first time since 2006, where a David Beckham free-kick ended their best run.

The Ecuadorians will be led by head coach Gustavo Alfaro. Alfaro joined the national team back in August 2020 and returned the FEF back into football’s showpiece event.

The South American nation will rely on their veteran attacking-player Enner Valencia, who previously represented the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and has registered 35 goals in 72 games for Ecuador.

In addition ‘La Tricolor’ will look to depend on the pace and danger of Pervis Estupinan and Piero Hincapie on the flanks to stretch teams and assist with Valencia’s threat in front of goal.

Despite an impressive qualification campaign, like Qatar, Ecuador will struggle in this group if the Netherlands and Senegal bring their ‘A’ game.

Ecuador is +110 odds of repeating their best ever finish at a WC by getting out of the group, and Dimers has rated them as a 42.9% chance of reaching the knockout stages.

Did you know that you can simulate the World Cup bracket here and see how far your team can go at Qatar 2022?

World Cup Group A: Best Players

Arnaut Danjuma (Netherlands)

Edouard Mendy (Senegal)

Pervis Estupinan (Ecuador)

Akram Afif (Qatar)

Piero Hincapie (Ecuador)

Ismaila Sarr (Senegal)

Mohammed Muntari (Qatar)

Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands)

Memphis Depay (Netherlands)

Where To Bet On World Cup Group A?

All of the major US sportsbook will take bets on Group A at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Operators such as FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, PointsBet, Caesars and Bet365 will all be after your business during the soccer World Cup, so you will have access to a number of different welcome offers and sportsbook promo codes to get you off to a winning start. The best of these offers is the Bet $5, Win $150 from DraftKings Sportsbook. You can claim it here.

Betting on the World Cup is simple. All you have to do is create an account with any of the sportsbooks listed on Dimers, make an initial deposit, and then start betting. Think carefully about that first deposit though, as a lot of the offers allow you to leverage the amount you throw down for your first bet. A $100 first bet is going to get you more value than a first bet of $10, for instance.

World Cup Group A: Picks

Matchday 1 Predictions

Senegal 1, Netherlands 3

Qatar 1, Ecuador 2

Matchday 2 Predictions

Qatar 0, Senegal 2

Netherlands 2, Ecuador 1

Matchday 3 Predictions

Ecuador 0, Senegal 2

Netherlands 3, Qatar 0

World Cup Group A: Predicted Standings

Country	Points
Netherlands	9
Senegal	6
Ecuador	3
Qatar	0

Download your complete guide to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar below.

Where To Watch World Cup Group A?

You can watch these Group A matches and every match of the 2022 World Cup on the FOX Sports family of networks. Fox Sports is the tournament's official English-language broadcast partner in the United States. You can also stream full World Cup match replays for free on the Fox Sports app.

Sunday, November 20

Qatar vs. Ecuador, 11AM ET on FS1

Monday, November 21

Senegal vs. Netherlands, 11AM ET on FOX

Friday, November 25

Qatar vs. Senegal, 8AM ET on FS1

Netherlands vs. Ecuador, 11AM ET on FOX

Tuesday, November 29

Netherlands vs. Qatar, 10AM ET on *FOX

Ecuador vs. Senegal, 10AM ET on *FS1

Vincenzo Pugliese

Sports Writer Vincenzo Pugliese joined Dimers.com in May of 2022. Vincenzo graduated from Rutgers University in 2021 with a Bachelor's Degree in Media Studies and Journalism. Vincenzo was a part of the Rutgers University Men’s Soccer team where he served as team captain his senior year. After that he played professional soccer in Denmark called VSK Aarhus. Upon his return, he earned his U.S Soccer Coaching License and became a Coach at Match Fit Academy and the Peddie School.