Malayali Tahsin's dream debut on hold, but Qatar stun Switzerland with dramatic late equaliser

Kerala will have to wait to see one of its own make a FIFA World Cup debut as Malayali winger Tahsin Mohammed remained on the bench in Qatar's thrilling 1-1 draw with Switzerland in a Group B fixture at San Francisco.

Qatar's Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui chose to rely on experience as he summoned fresh legs off the bench after going behind to a Breel Embolo penalty in the 17th minute. Veteran Hassan Alhaydos was the fifth and final substitution for Qatar, leaving millions of Malayalis worldwide disappointed as they had waited for the introduction of 19-year-old Tahsin.

However, for the fans of Qatar there was reason to rejoice as their skipper Boualem Khoukhi scored a dramatic equaliser in the 4th minute of added time. It was a move that came against the run of play with Homam Ahmed swinging in a cross from the left and Khoukhi rising over his marker to score from a thumping header.

The result meant, Qatar got their first point in a FIFA World Cup as the Asian side had lost all three of their group matches on their debut in 2022 when they hosted the tournament.

Switzerland have only themselves to blame as they had as many as 26 attempts, almost four times more than what the Qataris managed, yet only scored once. Much of the credit should go to Qatar's brave goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada, who stood tall to deny waves of Swiss attacks in either half.

As for Tahsin, the history that has been deferred for now could still be made when Qatar take on Canada in their second group match on June 19, starting 3.30 am IST.

Tahsin is the youngest of the two children of Thalassery native Jamshid and Valapattanam native Shaima. He had featured off the bench in Qatar's pre-World Cup friendly against El Salvador last week.