Doha - (AFP) - Qatar's national team fell in its first participation in the World Cup finals against its Ecuadorian counterpart, 0-2, on Sunday, at Al-Bayt Stadium, in the opening match of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Ener Valencia scored the two goals in the 16th minute from a penalty kick and 31st in front of 67,372 spectators.

The first group also includes the Netherlands and Senegal, who meet on Monday.

Qatar became the first host country to lose its first match in the history of the World Cup finals, taking an incomplete step at the beginning of its World Cup campaign.

This was the third match in the ranking on the first day of this tournament, but the International Federation of Football Associations decided to advance the start of the tournament by one day last August in order for the host country to play the opening match as usual.

The Ecuadorian team took advantage of a misunderstanding between Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb and one of its defenders, to score Fenerbahçe striker Ener Valencia with a header from close range after only three minutes had passed, but the referee canceled it after referring to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technique for offside.

The referee awarded a penalty kick after the gray Qatar goalkeeper blocked Valencia inside the area, and the latter successfully approached it (16).

It is the first time in the history of the World Cup that the opening goal has been scored from a penalty kick.
And the Ecuadorian national team continued its advantage, possessing the ball by 62 percent, amid a complete loss of the owners of the land.

And Ecuador, which is participating in the finals for the fourth time in its history, succeeded in consolidating its progress, thanks also to Valencia, who invested a cross from Angelo Preciado from the right to head a ball into the net (32).

Valencia thus increased his tally as the best scorer in the history of his country with 37 goals, and he was the only one with the record number of goals for Ecuador in the finals with five goals, after he was equal with Augustin Delgado.

Paradoxically, Valencia managed to score the last five successive goals for her country's national team in the football tournament as well.

Valencia also became the sixth player to score a double in the opening match during this century, after German Miroslav Klose (2006) against Costa Rica, Costa Rican Paulo Winchop in the same match, Brazilian Neymar against Croatia in the 2014 edition, and Russian Denis Cheryshev against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup Russia. 2018.

The Qatari players entered more calmly in the second half and exchanged the ball with ease. And after Al-Sheeb thwarted Romário Ibarra's attempt from the outskirts of the area (53), Qatari back Pedro Miguel hit a header that passed to the right post after a coordinated attack (62).

The Ecuadorian national team suffered a heavy blow, injuring Valencia in the 77th minute.

Muhammad Muntari, who replaced Al-Moez Ali, attempted a dropped ball, but it landed on the net from above (85).

The meeting is the fourth between the two teams. Ecuador won twice, compared to Qatar once, and tied once as well.