The opening game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup was one Ecuador fans will always flash back for years to come. For host nation Qatar, it’s one they’ll want to wipe from their history books before their coming match against Senegal on Friday November 25.
Ecuador beat Qatar 2- 0, with one man, Enner Valencia making all the captions in that game. However, the Middle East country became the first host nation to lose its opening match of the World Cup, in hundreds of years. Host nations have had 16 wins, six draws and no losses in their openers in all other competitions.
Qatar now has to get three points against the Netherlands or Senegal, who are ranked eighth and 18th in the world, independently.
In the Ecuador- Qatar opening game, Enner Valencia’s impeccably- placed a beautiful header in the 31st minute, and was enough to’ kill’ the Qataris. It was Valencia’s second of the day.
Before Valencia scored the World Cup- opening goal from the spot — and the eventual follow- up header — he scored what would have been the first of his hat trick. Had the thing stood, he’d have been the third player in World Cup history to score a hat trick on the opening day of the World Cup.
But the his first goal was wiped off when the VAR review ruled the play offsides.
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Meanwhile, England thrashed Iran by 6- 2. Before this match, they have not won any international match since March 29, 2022. That, combined with their history of disappointment on the World Cup stage, leading to numerous of their fans veritably excited about this win.
Before a knee injury forced Sadio Mané to pullout from the event, the Senegal- Netherlands tourney was extensively viewed as the tiebreaker for the top of Group B. While that might still end up being the case, the Netherlands beat the African titleholders by 2- 0, despite the fact that Senegal showed adaptability and played well.
The Senegalese were fighting on for an equaliser after the Netherlands had opened the scoreline. But their hunt to do so was cut short in additional time after 90 minutes, when the Oranje team, scored another goal to seal their win.
The United United States also drew with Wales, in another intriguing game. England has also sealed their three points going into the coming match.
