Enner Valencia Scores First 2022 World Cup Goal

–Valencia’s Double Gives Ecuador Half-Time Lead Against Qatar

The World Cup kicked off with host nation Qatar facing Ecuador on Sunday as the month-long football showpiece finally gets underway after a tortuous 12-year build-up dogged by off-field controversies.

Foreign government officials, VIPs, and celebrities were in the crowd as the first World Cup staged in the Arab world opened at the Bedouin-tent-inspired Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, 50 kilometres (31 miles) outside of Doha.

The venue is one of an array of brand-new stadiums built for the tournament, which has cost Qatar an estimated $200 billion.