Hosts Qatar became the first country to ever lose an opening game of a World Cup as the host nation after being beaten by Ecuador at Al Bayt.
Despite Felix Sanchez’s men having been together in a training camp for the last six months the team looked very nervous and disjointed.
Following the opening ceremony the locals were in good spirit but it wasn’t long before that changed! After just three minutes Enner Valencia’s header from close range was in the back of the net only for VAR to rule it out for offside.
A big problem for Qatar was their goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb – he had been lucky with the decision for the first goal after he had failed to clear a cross.
Then 15 minutes later he brought Valencia down in the box – the former West Ham player calmly converted the spot-kick.
Things got worse for the hosts before half-time when Valencia got his and his nation’s second with a wonderful header.
During half-time a number of fans left the game leaving lots of empty seats around the Al Bayt Stadium and on the hour mark with no sign of Qatar getting back into the game the cameras showed even more people were leaving the game.
This was not the start the host nation wanted – they have waited a long time to host the World Cup and spent a huge amount of money getting not just the facilities ready but also their players ready.
Unfortunately they were very poor – failing to test the Ecuadorian keeper and with the Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal and three-time finalists the Netherlands to play it is hard to see if they will get a point or even a goal.
Today’s action – England and Wales are in action
On day two we see the second game in Group A with Senegal taking on the Netherlands at 16.00 in the Al Thumama Stadium.
Unfortunately for the African Cup of Nations’ winners they will have to do without star man Sadio Mane – the Bayern Munich star misses out due to a knee injury.
Group B also starts with England facing Iran at 13.00 and Wales against the USA at 19.00.
The big question is whether captains Harry Kane and Gareth Bale will receive yellow cards for wearing the ‘One Love’ captain’s armband.
The two nations want to use this opportunity to promote equality – something that is very prominent in Iran at the moment with a number of protests relating to women wearing the hijab and their rights.
FIFA wants this World Cup to be about football – but with the current climate that is going to be a challenge.
