Qatar 1-1 Switzerland: late own goal earns Qatar a historic first World Cup point

Switzerland dominated almost everything except the scoreline, drawing 1-1 with Qatar in the Group B opener at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (Levi's Stadium) in Santa Clara. For long stretches it looked like a routine win, until a chaotic finish handed Qatar a slice of history in front of roughly 67,966 fans.

Embolo's penalty puts Switzerland ahead

Switzerland took the lead from the penalty spot in the 17th minute. Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada fouled Remo Freuler inside the box, and Breel Embolo stepped up to convert — Switzerland's first-ever penalty goal at a World Cup. The award did not come without drama: FIFA's semi-automated offside technology suffered a technical outage and could not generate the usual onside graphic, forcing officials to draw the lines manually. Neither Embolo nor Freuler was ruled offside, and the spot-kick stood.

Qatar level deep in stoppage time

For the rest of the match Switzerland controlled the ball and the chances, finishing with around 3.24 expected goals to Qatar's 0.76, per Opta data. But they could not add a second, and the door stayed open. In the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time (90+4'), a Boualem Khoukhi header was diverted past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel — FIFA officially logged it as a Miro Muheim own goal, though many headlines credited Khoukhi. Either way, the ball ended up in the net, and Qatar had a stunning, last-gasp equaliser.

It was a landmark moment: Qatar's first-ever point at a FIFA World Cup, having lost all three of their matches as hosts in 2022. The night stayed clean of red cards, with bookings going to Qatar's Abunada and Jassem Gaber (23') and Switzerland's Denis Zakaria (42').

What it means for Group B

With the group's other opener also finishing 1-1, all four Group B teams — Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland — are level on a single point after matchday one. Switzerland will feel they left two points behind given their command of the game, while Qatar will take huge belief from rescuing a result they barely threatened to earn on the balance of play. The group is wide open heading into matchday two. Revisit the game on the match page or see the full schedule at matches.