2022 FIFA World Cup: Qatar v Ecuador match preview
The first match of the highly anticipated 2022 FIFA World Cup takes place at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as hosts Qatar lock horns with Ecuador in Group A.
Qatar are competing on the biggest international football stage for the first time in their history, while the South American nation make their return to the World Cup finals after an eight-year absence.
Controversy engulfed the tournament ever since Qatar were awarded the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup back in 2010, Qatar have simply tried to give themselves the best possible chance of making it out of Group A coming up against African champions Senegal and 2010 World Cup finalists Netherlands.
Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and most recently Albania have fallen to Qatar’s superiority in recent weeks, with star striker Almoez Ali netting the only goal against the latter, and the Maroon are now aiming to become the first World Cup debutants to win their opening match since Senegal beat then-defending champions France in 2002.
On the other hand, Sanchez Bas’s side are aiming to avoid being just the second World Cup hosts to fail to make it out of the group after South Africa in 2010 but victory here would also see Qatar make history as the only AFC nation to win their first-ever World Cup showdown.
After Ecuador were reportedly facing the threat of expulsion from the tournament after fielding an ineligible player in qualifying, they will have the opportunity to play against the host nation as the tournament kicks off.
Ecuador have already appeared at three editions of the competition in 2002, 2006 and 2014, but only once have they progressed beyond the group stages, being eliminated in the last 16 16 years ago.
Clean sheets have been the theme for Gustavo Alfaro’s men in their warm-up period too, as Ecuador have remarkably recorded six shutouts from six games since the start of June, but they have only found the back of the net twice themselves, with four of those six matches ending 0-0.
Ecuador and Iraq played out the Tricolor’s latest goalless stalemate last Saturday, and Qatar have already faced their South American counterparts three times on home soil, recording one win, one draw and one defeat versus the side who will be intent on spoiling the party atmosphere
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Qatar’s medical team have already been at work in the build-up to this match, as attacker Ahmed Alaaeldin came off in the 26th minute against Albania last week with an unspecified injury, but he was always expected to drop out here.
Ali the joint leading scorer for his country with 42 goals ought to be partnered in a two-man strikeforce by Akram Afif, and the duo will spearhead the charge for an otherwise defensive-minded Qatar side here.
A five-man backline ought to be marshalled by 130-cap international Abdelkarim Hassan, while captain Hassan Al-Haydos will eye his 170th cap behind the strikers as he hopes to take Ali Asad’s spot.
Similarly, Ecuador also suffered a first-half injury in their final warm-up game as Byron Castillo came off before the break, but the 24-year-old was in fact the player caught up in the ineligibility storm and has been left out of the Tricolor’s 26-man squad.
As a result, either Angelo Preciado or Robert Arboleda ought to fill the right-back slot for the South Americans, despite the latter only just coming back from an ankle fracture, while none of Moises Caicedo, Carlos Gruezo or Jeremy Sarmiento were involved against Iraq either, but the trio simply arrived after that game had taken place.
Sarmiento will need a once-over on a minor muscular problem, though, while Gruezo has been training normally after overcoming a thigh issue, and the line will be led by all-time leading scorer Enner Valencia.
Qatar possible starting lineup:
Al-Sheeb; Miguel, Al-Wari, Salman, Hassan, Ahmed; Hatem, Boudiaf; Al-Haydos; Ali, Afif
Ecuador possible starting lineup:
Dominguez; Preciado, Torres, Hincapie, Estupinan; Gruezo, Caicedo, Cifuentes; Plata, Valencia, Ibarra.
Qatar certainly boast plenty of players who know how to win games on the international stage, and a first-ever World Cup game with the rapturous home crowd behind them will be of major benefit to the Maroon.
However, a staunch rearguard has characterised this Ecuador side in recent months, and while that streak may come to an end here, the Tricolor’s star names can propel them to an opening-day victory.
Prediction
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
