The first match of the FIFA World Cup kicks off with Qatar hosting Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday. It is the gulf country’s first appearance on the biggest stage while the South American nation will be playing in its fourth World Cup.
Qatar have played four friendlies since October and boast a perfect record. They are the reigning Asian champions and it will be a mistake to take them lightly. Making the most of the home conditions, the Maroons will be looking to get three points on the board, with the fixtures thereafter seeing them face Senegal and Netherlands.
Ecuador have progressed to the knockouts just once, in 2006, where they won the first game in the group. They are a tough nut to crack and have had six consecutive clean sheets since June. They have, however, lacked a cutting edge in attack and have scored just twice in the same period. They are only six places above Qatar in the FIFA rankings (44th), which should make for an interesting battle.
GOAL brings you details on how to watch the game on TV and online.
Game:
Qatar vs Ecuador
Date:
November 20, 2022
Kick-off:
4:00 pm GMT / 11:00 am ET/ 9:30 pm IST
Venue:
Al Bayt Stadium, Qatar
Streaming:
fuboTV (start with free trial)
In the United States (U.S.), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (start with a free trial). New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
Fans in the U.S. can also watch the match on Peacock, the Fox Sports Network, and Telemundo.
In the United Kingdom (U.K.) the match will be broadcast on BBC One and live streamed on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport Web.
In India, the Sports – 18 network has acquired the rights to broadcast the FIFA World Cup.
Country
TV Channel
Live Stream
U.S.
Fox Sports 1, Telemundo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo.
fuboTV, Foxsports.com, UFORIA App, Peacock, Fox Sports App.
U.K.
BBC One
BBC iPLayer, BBC Sport Web.
India
Sports -18 1 SD/HD, MTV HD
Jio Cinema
Check out GOAL’s Football on UK TV guideCheck out GOAL’s Soccer on U.S. TV guide
Qatar’s attack will be led by Almoez Ali and Akram Afif. Skipper Hassan Al Haydos should slot in just behind the two strikers as a typical No.10.
Felix Sanchez Bas is likely to field a five-man backline and it will be led by veteran campaigner Abdelkarim Hassan.
They have only one injury concern in Ahmed Alaaeldin, who was replaced against Albania last week with an unspecified injury.
Qatar predicted XI: Al-Sheeb; Ro-Ro, Al-Rawi, Salman, Hassan, Ahmed; Hatem, Boudiaf; Al-Haydos; Ali, Afif
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Al Sheeb, Hassan, Barsham
Defenders
Ro-Ro, Hassan, Salman, Kheder, Ahmed, Al-Rawi, Khoukhi, Mohammad, Gaber.
Midfielders
Waad, Hatem, Assadalla, Boudiaf, Al-Hajri, Madibo, Tarek.
Forwards
Muntari, Al-Haydos, Afif, Muneer, Ali, Al-Hadhrami.
Enner Valencia and Romario Ibarra are likely to be paired up front for Ecuador. Pervis Estupinan and Moises Caicedo should also start following their impressive form in the Premier League.
Ecuador have no injury concerns heading into the fixture.
Ecuador predicted XI: Dominguez; Preciado, Porozo, Hincapie, Estupinan; Franco, Gruezo, Caicedo; Plata, Valencia, Ibarra.
Position
Players
Goalkeepers
Galindez, Ramirez, Dominguez.
Defenders
Torres, Hincapie, Arboleda, Palacios, Estupinan, A. Preciado, Pacho, Porozo.
Midfielders
Cifuentes, Gruezo, Mena, Sarmiento, Plata, Mendez, Franco, Caicedo.
Forwards
Reasco, Ibarra, Estrada, Valencia, A. Preciado, Rodriguez.
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