Match Preview: Can Qatar survive against Ecuador in World Cup opener?

As a debutant and the hosts, Qatar will be looking forward to secure first victory in its first appearance in the World Cup.

Qatar and Ecuador had met three times in the past. Both won a game apiece and drew one.

At their last meeting four years ago, Qatar won 4-3 in the friendly match.

Ecuador,with top players have lost only one of their 15 international matches, five of which were won and nine ending in a draw.

Qatar are 50th in the men’s world rankings and are the reigning Asian Cup champions – beating Japan 3-1 in the 2019 final. They also and reached the semi-finals of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup when they were invited.

Felix Sanches, a Spanish is the Coach of Qatar National team. He came in to the country to work at the Aspire Academy before he eventually became the Coach of Qatar U19,23 and later the National team.

Ecuador has had an eight-year absence from the event. They attended World Cup in 2002, 2006 and 2014.

While Qatari’s highest goal scorer striker Hassan al-Haydos will be hoping to add more to his tally, Ener Valencia, Ecuador’s all-time best scorer will also be keen to make impact in the game which will held at Al bayt Stadium on Sunday evening.

Ecuador will also have an opportunity to make a statement after an eight-year absence from the event. They have only qualified for the the group stage once.

Qatar has won all of their last four warm-up friendlies since October against teams like Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and most recently Albania.

Gustavo Alfaro”s Ecuador team have remarkably recorded six shutouts from six games since the start of June- four of those six matches ending 0-0 and scoring only two goals in the six matches.

Alfaro is an Argentine who joined Ecuador National team in 2020.