Qatar vs Ecuador: game recap: score, statistics, man of the match

After 12 years preparing for their tournament debut, Qatar won’t look back on it with much fondness. Felix Sánchez’s men were comfortably second-best to Ecuador in Sunday’s opening game of the 2022 World Cup, as Enner Valencia’s first-half double gave the South Americans a deserved 2-0 win at Al Bayt Stadium.

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Valencia vanquishes Qatar

With two minutes on the clock, Valencia had the ball in the net for what would have been the fastest goal in the first match of a World Cup - but an offside flag saw his header chalked off.

However, it was only a temporary reprieve for the Qataris. When goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb brought Valencia down in the Qatar box just over 10 minutes later, the Fenerbahce forward finished coolly from the spot. It is the first time that the opening goal of a World Cup has been a penalty.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, Valencia then doubled Ecuador’s lead with a fine header. Ángelo Preciado crossed from the right, and the 33-year-old powered a low effort into Al Sheeb’s right-hand corner.

The closest Qatar came was a Mohammed Muntari shot with time running out at Al Bayt. Latching on to a long clearance, the substitute met the bouncing ball with a powerful shot that dropped just over Hernán Galíndez’s crossbar.

Man of the match: Enner Valencia

The identity of the man of the match is no surprise: Valencia’s points-winning double leaves Ecuador with an excellent chance of reaching the World Cup knockout stages for only the second time in their history.

He has now netted the Ecuadorians’ last five goals at a World Cup finals: he accounted for all three of the team’s strikes when they last appeared at the tournament, at Brazil 2014. The last Ecuador player other than Valencia to score at a World Cup was Iván Kaviedes, in a 3-0 group-stage win over Costa Rica at Germany 2006.

Opta note that only three men have scored more consecutive goals for a World Cup team. Eusébio, Oleg Salenko and Paolo Rossi all managed six for Portugal, Russia and Italy, respectively.

Valencia’s double against Qatar also means he is now Ecuador’s highest-ever scorer at the World Cup. He went into Qatar 2022 level on three goals with Agustín Delgado, who featured at the 2002 and 2006 finals.

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Qatar left with battle to avoid early exit

For Qatar, the bad news is that Ecuador are, on paper, their most manageable opponents in Group A. Next up for the Maroon is a match-up with African champions Senegal on Friday, before they play their final first-round game against the Netherlands, the strongest nation in the group, on Tuesday week.

Since an opening group phase was introduced at the World Cup in 1950, only one host nation - South Africa in 2010 - has failed to progress to the final stages. Qatar now face a steep uphill battle to avoid becoming the second.

Meanwhile, Ecuador meet the Dutch on Friday, before taking on Senegal four days later in a matchday-three clash that could well be a playoff for a last-16 spot.