Qatar, Ecuador meet to open 2022 FIFA World Cup
Published
The host nation has never lost their opening game at the Men’s FIFA World Cup – Qatar will attempt to extend that run as they face Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium to raise the curtain on the 2022 competition.
Coverage begins with TSN at the World Cup at 9am ET/6am PT on TSN1/4, TSN.ca, TSN App and CTV.
The home team has not always contested the official opening match of the Men’s World Cup. FIFA restored the tradition of the host nation playing in the first game in 2006 after handing the honour to the defending champions from 1974-2002.
Germany defeated Costa Rica in 2006, South Africa earned a draw against Mexico in 2010, Brazil topped Croatia in 2014 and Russia battered Saudi Arabia in 2018.
Qatar captain Hassan Al-Haydos hopes the support of the home fans will help drive his team to success.
“Our fans play a big role for us, when we get that positive atmosphere we feel we can do our best,” Al-Haydos told FIFA.com.
Qatar will be making their World Cup debut, the only team out of the 32 that has not previously played in the tournament.
As the host nation, Qatar did not have to qualify for the event. They picked up victories in friendlies over Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Albania in the lead-up to their first game. They also earned a draw with Chile and lost to Canada in pre-tournament action.
Qatar and Ecuador have met three times previously, with each team earning a win and a draw. All three games were friendlies.
The World Cup hosts captured the most recent match, a 4-3 victory at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha in October of 2018.
“It will be a hard game, it’s a kick-off game against a very experienced opponent with previous World Cup appearances,” said Al Haydos. “It’s the World Cup, we do not expect to face easy opponents.”
Ecuador will be playing in their fourth Men’s World Cup, returning to the competition for the first time since the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
The South American nation made it to the Round of 16 in 2006, their best result at the World Cup. They were eliminated in a 1-0 loss to England.
During qualifying they earned draws against Brazil and Argentina as well as a win over Uruguay that helped them earn their place in Qatar.
Ecuador has not conceded a goal in the six friendlies they have played since wrapping up the qualifying tournament, though they have only managed a goal each in 1-0 victories over Cape Verde Islands and Nigeria.
They also played to scoreless draws with Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iraq over that period.
Qatar will be led by all-time top scorer Almoez Ali, who will be counted on to drive their attack. He has 42 goals in 85 international games.
Ecuador, meanwhile, will lean on the experience of Enner Valencia, who captains the squad and is their leading scorer with 35 goals.
QATAR POSSIBLE XI: Saad Al-Sheeb, Pedro Miguel, Bassam Al-Rawi, Tarek Salman, Abdelkarim Hassan, Homam Ahmed, Abdelaziz Hatim, Karim Boudiaf, Hassan Al-Haydos, Almoez Ali, Akram Afif.
ECUADOR POSSIBLE XI: Alexander Dominguez, Angelo Preciado, Felix Torres, Piero Hincapie, Pervis Estupinan, Carlos Gruezo, Moises Caicedo, Jose Cifuente, Gonzalo Plata, Enner Valencia, Romario Ibarra.