AL KHOR, Qatar (Reuters) – Qatar play Ecuador in the World Cup in Doha on Sunday.
When: Sunday Nov. 20, 1900 local (1600 GMT/1100 ET)
Where: Al Bayt Stadium
Capacity: 60,000
Key stats and facts:
* World Cup hosts have never lost their opening game.
* Qatar automatically qualified as hosts but the Gulf country also proved their worth by winning the Asian Cup in 2019.
* Striker Almoez Ali was Qatar’s top scorer at the Asian Cup with nine goals but he has scored only once in 2022.
* This is Ecuador’s fourth World Cup but they have qualified for the knockout stages only once in 2006, where they were eliminated in the last-16.
* Ecuador’s top scorer in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers was Michael Estrada (six goals).
* Ecuador did not pick Byron Castillo for the World Cup after the country’s football federation decided not to include him following Chile’s claim at the Court of Arbitration for Sport that he was ineligible to play in qualifying matches.
Previous meetings:
* Qatar and Ecuador have played each other three times, with both teams winning once and one game ending in a draw.
* The last time they played each other was in October 2018 when Qatar beat Ecuador 4-3 in a friendly in Doha.
(Compiled by Rohith Nair in Doha; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
