Qatar vs Ecuador Preview

Qatar will kick off the 2022 FIFA World Cup this Sunday when they play Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium in Doha.

The host nation is playing in the tournament for the first time and will look to record their first win despite the many controversies that have greeted their hosting of this tournament.

They are the smallest nation to host the tournament and are also the 80th nation to compete in the World Cup finals – the first debutant to host the competition since Italy in 1934.

The hosts come into this tie unbeaten in six games (W5, D1 – including unofficial friendlies). Under their coach Félix Sánchez, Qatar have opted for continuity and prepared for this tournament by playing numerous friendlies in 2022.

They prepared themselves in tournament football, finishing third in last year’s Arab Cup. They also won the last edition of the Asian Cup in 2019 and enjoyed some helpful experience in the Copa Ámerica and Gold Cup. Having gathered knowledge against teams from North and South America within the past two years, they will fancy their chances of getting a good result against an Ecuador team that finished in fourth place in the CONMEBOL qualifiers group.

The South American side are making their fourth appearance at a World Cup finals having played in the 2002, 2006 and 2014 editions.

They had a decent qualification round, recording seven wins, five draws and six losses in their CONMEBOL group. Since booking their place in the finals, they have enjoyed steady form and come into this game unbeaten in their last six games (W2, D4).

They kept six clean sheets in those games and so will fancy their chances of getting a result in this game against a Qatar side that are new to this tournament.

However, Gustavo Alfaro’s men failed to score in four of their last six games so they may feel that their goalscoring problems could rear its head in this tournament. Alfaro will need to find the key to unlocking their attacking potential to become the first side to beat the host nation in a World Cup opener.