The 2022 Qatar World Cup started last night, with the opening match between the hosts Qatar and the 3rd youngest squad, Ecuador.
The match begun and within 5 minutes there was already controversy, a Ecuador free kick that ended up in the net from an. Enner Valenica header, the away side thought they were in front and had a perfect start to the World Cup, the joy didn't last long, the tightest of offside calls was made, with new technology being used in this tournament, to the naked eye you never would of known, however it turned out to be the correct call but only by inches.
The game continued and Ecuador proceeded to dominate, they eventually broke the deadlock when their captain and the only player in the Ecuador team that has played in a World Cup before, Enner Valencia, scored from the penalty spot, a calm and experienced penalty as he sent the keeper the wrong way for a 1-0 lead. It was that man again who scored a wonderful header to give Ecuador a 2-0 lead, Valencia was on course to be the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup opener and Qatar were on course to be the first host team ever to lose a World Cup opening match.
Enner Valencia came off early into the second half with an injury and didn't complete the hat-trick however Ecuador came away with a 2-0 win and a started their World Cup campaign on the right path.
Leading us to the second day in the tournament. England start their campaign against 20 ranked team Iran in group B followed by the other 2 teams in Group A Senegal vs Netherlands and the last game of day two is USA vs Wales.
England will be looking to start strong, being drawn in the highest ranked group in the tournament will not come without it's challenges but they will want to get off to a winning start against the lowest ranked team in the group. Wales face a stern test against the USA who are the 2nd youngest team in the tournament and are full of hope, they are going through a 'golden generation' faze in their football lineage and will be looking to raise a few eyebrows at this years world cup.
We expect Group B to be a tightly contested affair and are excited to see how this tournament plays out for the two countries representing the United Kingdom.
How do you think England and Wales will fair at this years World Cup?
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