In the first game of the tournament Qatar made history. Not only for being the first Arab nation to host a World Cup, but also as the first World Cup host to lose in their tournament debut. Ecuador came out strong and put the ball in the back of the net in the third minute of the match. Controversy ensued though when the goal was called back for offside.
That first goal though was a turning point in the match. Qatar seemed like a boxer who just felt the opponent’s power with a punch in the first round. They seemed to realize that they were at a disadvantage against an Ecuador team that was not only more talented, but more physical. There was just no phase of the game that they could win. After the first game disappointment will Qatar be able to recover, or will they bow out of their own World Cup after 3 losses?
They’d Have To Get Much Better Quickly
Qatar may have thought that they had a real chance going into this game versus Ecuador. As mentioned before when they got hit in the mouth in that first goal that was disallowed they looked scared. From that moment on the team was never able to find their footing on the field. In many ways they were helped by the fact that Ecuador took it easy on them after the next two goals that they scored.
The big problem is that things are not going to get easier for Qatar. Senegal and the Netherlands are going to be at least equally as challenging as Ecuador. With that in mind it’s hard to picture Qatar even picking up a point in the tournament. Plus, when they face both the Netherlands, and Senegal there’s a chance that both of these teams are going to be playing with more urgency.
Are Senegal and The Netherlands Tougher or Easier Outings?
Ecuador potentially surprised both the Qatar players on the field as well as many of the people watching the tournament. We mentioned in our match preview that Enner Valencia was coming into the tournament in excellent form. That was evident from the word go in the first game of the World Cup. We wouldn’t be surprised if Ecuador made it out of the group, particularly now after seeing both the Netherlands and Senegal.
Senegal pushed the Netherlands around for a while, but they weren’t able to find too many chances in front of goal. The Netherlands found space in the back of the Senegal defense with a perfect Frankie de Jong lob pass. Neither team seems to have that offensive presence that you’d like, but both Senegal, and the Netherlands are better than Qatar on paper. We would not be surprised, as we’ve said, if Qatar picked up 0 points in their home World Cup.
Will This Affect The World Cup Atmosphere
Qataris started to leave the match venue way before the final whistle. That may be a sign of things to come for other matches. The silver lining for FIFA, and the World Cup organizers is that this World Cup is an event that is widely built for foreign tourists to enjoy. In other countries that have hosted the World Cup the stadiums are mostly filled with locals. What happens is that once the host nation gets eliminated the tournament itself kind of losses a bit of its flair. That may not be the case in Qatar. Literally they’ll be more foreign tourists in the country throughout the tournament than locals. The hope is that these tourists can continue to provide the World Cup with some flair even when the host gets ousted.
