2022 World Cup Opening Game, Qatar Vs Ecuador: Enner Valencia's Brace Brings La Tricolor To Earn 3 Points

JAKARTA - The opening match of the 2022 World Cup sees hosts Qatar take on Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in the city of Al Khor on Sunday evening. In this match, the captain of Ecuador, Enner Valencia, scored a brace and brought La Tricolor to a 2-0 win.

Ecuador took a quick lead in the second minute through Valencia's header from close range after taking advantage of a set-piece situation. However, VAR canceled the goal.

Winning possession of the ball, Ecuador continued to pound on the host's goal. In the 14th minute, Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb brought down Valencia in the penalty box.

Apart from being awarded a yellow card by the Italian referee, Daniele Orsato, Al Sheeb also had to accept the fact that his goal was broken again by Valencia. This time, legit! Valencia became the first goal scorer for the 2022 World Cup, via the white point.

Pedro Miguel, a Qatar player, got a chance through a free kick in the 28th minute. However, the ball ran aground at the feet of the La Tricolor defenders.

Instead, Valencia again broke into the net for Felix Sanchez's team two minutes later with a header right in the middle of the penalty box.

Valencia proved himself unstoppable Qatar defenders. Yes, the hosts got in a lot of trouble from this Fenerbahce player.

Towards halftime, Almoez Ali got a golden opportunity when he received a pull bait in front of the Ecuador goal. Unfortunately, the header was not perfect so the ball was still far from Hernan Galindez's net.

In the second half, Qatar tried to catch up. However, a number of attempts made by the players often failed to find the opponent's goal.

Ecuador then lowered the tempo of the game, trying to find gaps to attack and increase their advantage. However, they also failed to score a third goal.

In the final minutes, the game becomes less interesting. Qatar looks distraught and appears to have no faith. Until the referee blew the long whistle to signal the end of the match, the score 2-0 for Ecuador's victory did not change.

Lineup:

Qatar (5-3-2) : Saad Alsheeb; Pedro Miguel, Bassam Hisham, Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan, Homam Ahmed; Karim Boudiaf, Abdulaziz Hatem, Hassan Al Haydos (capt); Almoez Ali, Akram Afif

Coach: Felix Sanchez (Spain)

Ecuador (4-4-2) : Hernan Galindez; Angelo Preciado, Felix Torres, Piero Hincapie, Pervis Estupinan; Gonzalo Plata, Moises Caicedo, Jhegson Mendez, Romario Ibarra; Enner Valencia (capt), Michael Estrada

Coach: Gustavo Alfaro (Argentina)