Qatar take on the visitors Ecuador in the round 1 match of World Cup group stage. The match will be played on Sunday, November 20th at Al Bayt Stadium (Al Khor).
Qatar national team naturally became the first to find out that it would play at this World Cup - since the unexpected, if not scandalous, victory in the vote for the right to host the World Cup. But it was clear that all the same, for the "Reds" it would be a success simply to overcome the group round. Yes, there was some progress, the peak of which was the victory in 2019 at the Asian Cup. But still, they do not expect much from the representatives of the local, Qatari championship, which is considered a good place for elderly stars from Europe. In order to provide the team with good practice, last year it was actually imposed on the 1st of the qualifying groups in Europe. As a result, it only turned out to take only a draw with Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, with an abundance of major defeats. Felix Sanchez Bas's men had better results: they lost only to Canada, with draws against Slovenia, Jamaica and Chile, and even victories against Bulgaria and Guatemala.
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Ecuador was able to complete their task for the qualifying tournament. There were more victories than defeats, 7 against 6, and, having scored 26 points in 18 rounds, the "tricolor" were able to take the coveted 4th place - the last one that ensures the representatives of South America to play at the next World Cup. It is noteworthy that in this way the wards of Gustavo Alfaro were able to continue a curious trend that has been observed since 2006. Ecuadorians miss every second tournament (2010 and 2018), but alternately break through to others. But the only question was how this was achieved in this cycle. It turned out that Byron Castillo, who took part in the qualifying meetings, was naturalized with violations. Unsuccessful opponents, primarily Chile, tried to take advantage of this. But in the end, it was established that the Colombian himself forged documents, and the team as a whole actually managed with a “light fright”. Yes, they received a 3 point penalty, but that will be activated in the next qualifier. The main thing is that the ticket will not be taken away now - but how did the hassle affect the players and the coaching staff?
In the fall of 2018, the teams played a friendly match. Then Qatar managed to win with a spectacular score of 4-3. Bookmakers tend to see Ecuador as the favourite, but don't forget that Qatar is the host. So it’s better to limit yourself to betting on “less than 2.5 goals”.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
