Qatar Makes World Cup History, Becomes First Host Country To Lose Opening Match
Qatar on Sunday made history by becoming the first host nation to lose an opening game at a World Cup, after a 2-0 defeat by Ecuador.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup host, lost their first match to Ecuador, bashing the hope of the Arabian fans.
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The host lost to the South American side at Al Bayt Stadium in Doha.
The Qatari team have continued the jinx as no Asian team has ever won their world cup opening encounter.
Qatar and Ecuador are playing in Group A alongside Netherlands and Senegal.
The last time both countries met was in October 2018, when Qatar won 4-3.
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The Arab country on Saturday was caught in a scandal before their World Cup opening match with Ecuador.
Amjad Taha, an expert in strategic political affairs and regional director of the British center in Saudi Arabia, alleged that Qatar bribed eight Ecuadorian players $7.4 million dollars to lose the match.
He tweeted, “Exclusive: Qatar bribed eight Ecuadorian players $7.4 million to lose the opener(1-0 2nd half). Five Qatari and #Ecadour insiders confirmed this. We hope it’s false. We hope sharing this will affect the outcome. The world should oppose FIFA corruption.”
TWEET:
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But as the match progressed, it was unlikely that the teams were bribed as Ecuador’s Enner Valencia scored a two minutes goal which was ruled out by VAR.
VAR spotted the ball fell to Michael Estrada, whose foot was in an offside position.
Qatar was under pressure in the first 14 minutes of the opener.
The host country’s Saad Al Sheeb became the first player to be booked in the 2022 edition of the tournament after bringing down Valencia.
Valencia scored the first goal of the tournament after converting the spot kick.
In the 31st minute, Valencia made it 2-0 with a storming header. The goal was given after a VAR check.
