Ecuador opened their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Qatar, who became the first host nation to lose their opening game.
Abdelkarim Hassan, captain Hassan Alhaydos and Akram Akif picked out Qatar's eleven, while Ecuador were able to call upon Brighton Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo and veteran forward Enner Valencia.
There was drama in the space of three minutes when Valencia leaped on the end of a floated ball into the area and headed in, but after a Video Assistant Review (VAR), the goal was ruled out for offside.
Valencia caused further problems nine minutes later where he won a penalty from a foul off goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb and stepped up to convert, becoming his country's highest scorer at the World Cup in the process.
Qatar battled to find some sort of rhythm a little thereafter and conceded a second goal after the half-hour mark when Valencia latched on the end of a cross and headed in the bottom-corner.
However, the host nation should've pulled one back on the stroke of halftime when Almoez Ali arrived unmarked in the area and headed a surging delivery narrowly wide.
Ecuador looked to maintain their strong-hold in the second half from Angel Preciado's move before Al Sheeb worked a smart stop from Romario Ibarra at the other end.
The tournament host started to see a lot of the ball in forward areas and closed in around the closing quarter when a smart header from Pedro Miguel flew narrowly wide.
Ecuador looked to the bench before the remaining 20 minutes and in came forward Jeremy Sarmiento ahead of Ibarra.
La Tri added more numbers to their attack in pursuit of a third goal with time running out, but they were unsuccessful as the opening encounter finished 2-0 in their favour.
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