Ecuador Beat Qatar 2-0 in World Cup Opening Match

Two first-half goals from Enner Valencia sealed a 2-0 win for Ecuador against Qatar at the Al Bayt Stadium in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Group A opener.

And with that the first match of the World Cup has come to an end.

For the hosts, it wasn’t quite the result they were hoping for as Ecuador is arguably the weakest of the three teams in their group, which they will have to face if they are to dream of passage into the round of 16.

For Ecuador, after a blistering first half-hour of play, they looked to hold back somewhat and try to keep their defensive shape as Qatar increasingly looked more comfortable on the ball and indeed dominated the possession stats in the second half.

Ultimately, the real tale of the tape is the three shots on goal that Ecuador had while Qatar had none in response.

Qatar became the first host to lose the opening match of a football world cup in its 92 year history.