Senegal will be looking to overcome the loss of their talisman Sadio Mane when they kick off their World Cup campaign against Netherlands on Monday.
Aliou Cisse's side have already enjoyed the most successful year in their history, having won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history in February.
Netherlands, meanwhile, have begun to establish themselves as one of international football's heavyweights again, after failing to even qualify for the World Cup four years ago.
Here, Sports Mole looks at both teams' recent form heading into the tournament in Qatar.
SENEGAL
Two of three of Senegal's main objectives for the calendar year have already been completed via winning AFCON and qualifying for the World Cup, with the other likely being advancing to the knockout stages in Qatar.
Their last competitive fixtures came in late August and early September against Guinea, with both teams up against each other to qualify for the African Nations Championship in Algeria in January 2023. Once again, Senegal were victorious on penalties after a 1-1 draw on aggregate.
More recently, they beat Bolivia 2-0 in a friendly in Orleans, France, with Boulaye Dia and Mane on the scoresheet, before drawing 1-1 against Iran in Maria Enzersdorf, Austria.
NETHERLANDS
Between the start of June and end of September, the Netherlands played six UEFA Nations League fixtures against Belgium, Wales and Poland.
Van Gaal's team travelled to Belgium for their most difficult fixture on matchday one, producing one of their most notable performances for a number of years as they prevailed by a 4-1 scoreline.
That set the tone for the group and Oranje collected 16 points from a possible 18, their only slip-up coming at home to Poland as they came back from 2-0 down to claim a share of the spoils.
As well as netting goals in added-on time to defeat Wales on both occasions, Netherlands came through September's fixtures with Poland and Belgium with back-to-back wins and clean sheets, the 1-0 success over the latter particularly satisfying with the team needing to avoid defeat to finish in top spot.
