Qatar earned their first ever point at a World Cup finals, snatching a dramatic 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Group B through Boualem Khoukhi's injury-time header, cancelling out Breel Embolo's first-half penalty in a result that left the group perfectly level after the opening round of fixtures.

Switzerland, widely regarded as the group's favourites under Julen Lopetegui, were the architects of their own frustration. Embolo's converted spot-kick gave them a platform that, on paper, should have been enough to hold. Yet the Swiss rarely built upon it with any conviction, producing a performance that was shapeless where it needed to be incisive. The statistics told a damning story — 3.24 expected goals accumulated, a mountain of opportunity squandered against a side they were expected to dispatch with relative comfort.

Qatar, by contrast, carried themselves with a defiance that belied their standing in the tournament. Managed by Lopetegui's opposite number, they compressed space intelligently and refused to buckle under sustained pressure, staying alive long enough for the occasion to deliver them something extraordinary. Khoukhi's towering late header — registered as the third-latest equaliser in World Cup group stage history since 1966 — was met with scenes of jubilation wholly proportionate to its significance.

For Qatar, a point of genuine history. For Switzerland, a cautionary tale written in wastefulness. With all four sides — Switzerland, Canada, Qatar and Bosnia-Herzegovina — level on one point apiece, Group B has been blown wide open before it has properly begun.