After a dazzling opening ceremony that saw key performances from global artists like Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Jason Derulo, Nicki Minaj, J Balvin, Clean Bandit, Robbie Williams, Nora Fatehi, Jungkook of BTS, and more, all eyes were now set for the opening bout of the FIFA World Cup 2022 where the hosts Qatar took on Ecuador to kick off the league stage of the grand event at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. So, stay with us as we bring you the updates from the grand opener and more!
Put up against a much experienced Ecuador, Qatar stepped into the field backed by the cheers of the overwhelmingly supportive home crowd hoping to begin the tournament with a winner. However, just 15 minutes into the first half, the first tragedy struck the hosts as Goalkeeper Saad Alsheeb was slapped a Yellow card by the referee for tripping Ecuador forward Enner Valencia, resulting in a penalty opportunity for Ecuador. Next minute, we saw Valencia skillfully send the ball past Alsheeb to score the first goal of the World cup and get the scoreboard ticking at 0-1.
The match continued with several offsides and fouls by the Qatar side, and Ecuador maintaining their dominance with a couple of missed shots at the goal. 31 minutes into the match, a header by Valencia saw the Yellow side take a 0-2 lead over Qatar, leaving the host nation in complete disarray. Qatar’s first attempt at scoring came only in the 33rd minute. With so many fouls, cards and pauses in between, the first half went into 5 minutes extra time which saw Ecuador maintain the 0-2 lead over Qatar.
Whistle to start the second half, Qatar begin showing some signs of fight back after a dismal show in the first. The hosts tried to keep as much of the ball possession to ensure some scoring opportunities with strikes from Akram Afif and Mohammed Muntari, with the latter almost pulling of a long range stunner that just passed over the bar. The final minutes of the game saw some on-field substitutions by Ecuador to rest some of the players, as they were certain to win the match. With 6 minutes added past 90, both sides got chances to score with a corner kick with K. Rodriguez almost netting a third one for Ecuador. Qatar tried their best efforts to atleast score one shot and avoid a duck defeat but the referees whistle in the end sealed the story with Ecuador beating hosts Qatar 0-2 in the FIFA World Cup 2022 opener.
As Enner Valencia’s twin stunners in the first-half gave Ecuador a dominant victory over the hosts, he also added into his kitty the first “Player of the match” award of this tournament, also making him the highest scorer for Ecuador in FIFA World Cups.
To get more post match updates, stay tuned with h3bet.com as we keep bringing you all the happenings of the FIFA World Cup 2022 right from this opener to the final match!