Iceland held by last-gasp Qatar
The 1-1 draw on Tuesday followed up their 2-1 defeat against the Czech Republic in Qatar last week
DOHA: (AFP) - A last-minute equaliser from Qatar s Mohammed Muntari meant Iceland warmed up for their World Cup finals debut in Russia next year without a win in two friendly matches in Doha.
The 1-1 draw on Tuesday followed up their 2-1 defeat against the Czech Republic in Qatar last week.
Muntari slammed home from close distance to force a deserved draw for the World Cup 2022 hosts following a laboured performance by Iceland.
And it could have been even worse for the Europeans as Qatar s Ahmed Mohamed even had a chance to win the game very late on.
Iceland had looked set for a routine victory after Vidar Orn Kjartansson scored the game s opening goal in the 26th minute after being put through by skipper Gylfi Sigurdsson, who pounced on a mistake by the Qatari defence.
But they were unable to see off a youthful Qatari side -- whose average age was just 24 -- and who did not qualify for next year s finals.
Qatar enjoyed lots of possession though, in truth, rarely threatened the Iceland goal.
When they did it was usually through the captain Hasan al-Haydos, whose 11th minute 20-yard shot, superbly saved by Ogmundur Kristinsson was the closest they came to scoring.
Qatar s Abdelkarim Hassan also forced a fine save late on from a free kick.
Iceland, with a population of just 330,000, are the smallest nation to have qualified for a World Cup.
Dentist-turned-international football coach Heimir Hallgrimsson fielded a makeshift side, and made several changes throughout the game, though Everton s Sigurdsson played the full 90 minutes.
Iceland, who qualified for Russia in style in a group containing Croatia, Turkey and Ukraine, were more subdued in Doha.
They also threatened rarely in a scrappy game and were hanging on by the end of the match as Qatar pressed for the equaliser.
Just 2,758 people watched the game in Doha s Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
