Qatar vs Ecuador: Predicted lineup, H2H record, injury updates in FIFA World Cup opener

The  FIFA World Cup 2022 will finally get underway on Sunday, November 20  with host Qatar taking on Ecuador in the opening match. The host nation will be the only team in the tournament's history to play in the World Cup without ever having competitively qualified for it. Ecuador on the other hand are playing their fourth World Cup.

Qatar is the reigning Asian champion and Ecuador will not be looking to take them lightly. The Maroons (Qatar) banking on their home support will be looking to get three points in this fixture since they take on  Senegal and Netherlands in their last two matches. Qatar will look to avoid becoming only the second host nation who have failed to get past the group stage. South Africa back in 2010 became the first host nation to fail to get past the first round. 

Before the FIFA World Cup Qatar played 10 friendlies in Europe at the invitation of UEFA. They beat Luxembourg and Azerbaijan but lost to Serbia and Portugal. The host also played in the 2019 Copa America and 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Qatar lost to Argentina 2-0 at the Copa America and reached the Gold Cup semifinals, losing to the United States 1-0.

Ecuador found themselves in major controversy which threatened their chances of playing in the World Cup. Chile filed a case against them for fielding ineligible players during the qualifiers which were rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The South American team will look to put the issue behind them and try to perform well in the opening match.

Qatar vs Ecuador head-to-head record

Talking about the Qatar vs Ecuador head-to-head record both teams have faced each other thrice before this. All three meetings took place in the Middle-Eastern nation itself. Both h teams are evenly split with one win each and one draw. In their previous meeting, which was a friendly in October 2018, Qatar beat Ecuador 4-3.

Qatar vs Ecuador injury news 

Ahead of the opening match, the host nation has only one injury concern in form of Ahmed Alaaeldin, who was replaced against Albania last week with an unspecified injury. Ecuador on the other hand has no injury concerns heading into the fixture.

Qatar vs Ecuador probable lineup 

Qatar probable XI: Al-Sheeb; Ro-Ro, Al-Rawi, Salman, Hassan, Ahmed; Hatem, Boudiaf; Al-Haydos; Ali, Afif

Ecuador Probabal XI: Dominguez; Preciado, Porozo, Hincapie, Estupinan; Franco, Gruezo, Caicedo; Plata, Valencia, Ibarra.