Ecuador inflicted a crushing defeat on Qatar in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium. The south american side displayed some high class football to outclass the hosts in their own backyard in a highly intense match on a stage as big as the World Cup. A fine performance from Gustavo Alfaro's men saw the team start their World Cup campaign on a high. Qatar on the other hand were handed a bitter loss in the tournament opener. The side became the first host team to lose its opening match at a World Cup tournament.

Ecuador started immensely strong as they found the opening goal with just 5 minutes on the clock. The goal was however chopped off for being offside. Ecuador however managed to finally find their first just 10 minutes later when they were awarded a penalty as Qatar's shotstopper, Al Sheeb brought Enner Valencia down in the box. The Ecuador striker scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-0.   Enner Valencia struck again at the half an hour mark to double his team's advantage. Angel Preciado whipped in a magnificent cross from the right flank to find Valencia in the box. The striker rose to the perfect height to head the ball into the back of the net past Al Sheeb. Qatar came within touching distances of reducing the deficit to 1 when an unmarked, Almoez Ali found a perfect cross from Al Haydos only to head the ball wide from close range.

The second half didn't see either of the sides creating as many chances as expected by the spectators. Ecuador majorly dominated the game with greater posession of the ball. Qatar despite doing well to create chances at times, failed to execute any of their plans to find a goal. The hosts came close to pulling one back in the 86th minute when Muntari latched onto a ball after Ecuador defenders failed to clear it. The Qatari no.10 however could only send a shot just over the bar thereby squandering the last possible opportunity to bring in some sort of anti climax in the game.