The host nation of World Cup 2022, Qatar, was bested in its debut, losing to Ecuador 2-0.
Ecuador did all its scoring in the first half. And it was Enner Valencia who netted both goals for La Tri. Valencia converted a penalty in the 15th minute. Then he got his second later in the half, with an elegant header that found the bottom left corner of Qatar’s goal.
With his two goals, Valencia became his country’s all-time leading scorer, with 37 goals in 75 national team appearances.
The South American country has now won eight straight international matches and 15 of its last 16.
The hosts struggled to come up with offense in the match. Qatar fired five shots at Ecuador’s goal with none hitting the target.
Prior to Sunday, no host nation had lost its World Cup opening match in the previous 21 editions of the tournament.
Next up for Ecuador is the Netherlands on Friday. Qatar will meet Senegal in its second group stage match, on Friday as well.
Here are the matches slated for tomorrow at World Cup 2022:
- England vs. Iran
- Senegal vs. Netherlands
- USA vs. Wales
Click here for the full schedule.