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Time for Qatar’s footballers to deliver on World Cup debut against Ecuador

DOHA: The preparation for Qatar finally ends on Sunday when the team begin their World Cup campaign.

The match against Ecuador in front of 60,000 fans is not only their first ever at the tournament, but also the biggest game in the country’s history. It is crucial to their chances of making it out of Group A, with African champions Senegal and then the Netherlands to come.

However, there is a team from whom Qatar can take inspiration. Back in 1994, Saudi Arabia made their debut and shocked the world by getting to the last 16, thanks to a 2-1 win over Morocco and a memorable victory against Belgium in Washington, courtesy of a classic goal from Saeed Al-Owairan that took his team to a last-16 clash with Sweden.

The Green Falcons lost their opening game against the Netherlands in 1994 and bounced back to win the next two to go through, but it is hard to see Qatar managing to do the same if they crash to defeat against Ecuador, a side widely seen as the weakest of the three opponents that the hosts will face.

A defeat would mean that four points, at least, would have to be taken from the following two games. That would be a huge task, even though South Africa are the only nation thus far to have fallen at the first hurdle while on home soil.

Ecuador should not hold any fears for Qatar. They are ranked 44th in the world, a mere six places higher than Qatar, while the host nation showed their talent and promise when they strolled to the 2019 Asian Cup, scoring 19 goals and conceding just one when defeating Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan along the way.

The preparations for the World Cup could not have been more exhaustive. Qatar played in the 2019 Copa America, drawing 2-2 with Paraguay and then losing to Colombia

Read more on arabnews.com