2022 World Cup hosts Qatar were beaten on their debut, losing to Ecuador 2-0.
Ecuador scored all their goals in the first half. And it was Enner Valencia who scored both goals for La Tri. Valencia converted a penalty in the 15th minute. Then he got his second later in the half, with a classy header that found the bottom left corner of Qatar’s goal.
With his two goals, Valencia became his country’s all-time top scorer, with 37 goals in 75 national team appearances.
The South American country has now won eight consecutive international matches and 15 of its last 16.
The hosts struggled to find an attack in the game. Qatar fired five shots into the Ecuador goal without any hitting the target.
Before Sunday, no host country had lost their opening World Cup match in the previous 21 editions of the tournament.
Next up for Ecuador is the Netherlands on Friday. Qatar will meet Senegal in their second group stage match also on Friday.
Here are the matches scheduled for tomorrow at the 2022 World Cup:
- England v Iran
- Senegal vs Netherlands
- USA v Wales
Click here for the full schedule.
