Ecuador Beat Qatar In Opening Game
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Qatar 0 Ecuador 2
Ecuador made a winning start to the World Cup after defeating host nation Qatar in the opening game of the tournament today.
Enner Valencia, the former West Ham United striker, who also spent a season on loan at Everton, sealed the comfortable victory with two first-half goals.
Qatar have become the first World Cup hosts to lose their opening game.
Valencia, who had a close-range header ruled out for offside by the video assistant, opened the scoring with a penalty in the sixteenth minute after being brought down by Qatar goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb.
He netted his second in the 31st minute with a powerful header.
Tomorrow’s games
Group A
Senegal v Netherlands, 12 pm
Group B
England v Iran, 9 am
United States v Wales, 3 pm
