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 initial decision left eagle-eyed football fans dumbfounded however with the aid of cutting-edge technology via the VAR, it proved to be the perfect decision. Valencia was marginally offside before slotting home from close range as revealed by the technology.
The former West Ham United and Everton striker took advantage of a dodgy defending by the Qatari defence to head home from close range. The Ecuador skipper who celebrated with his teammates saw his effort ruled out after a VAR review.
Earlier, Sports Brief reported that FIFA has had to deal with a potentially embarrassing revelation ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The world football governing body reportedly received an integrity alert suggesting that the host nation’s football team had received “an unusually high number of penalties” in friendly matches ahead of the tournament. Most of them had not been broadcast or streamed.
Ecuador’s skipper Enner Valencia scored the first goal of the Fifa World Cup 2022 from a penalty kick. Valencia was taken down in the box and it was a clear penalty.
Valencia finishes calmly down to his right, sending the goalkeeper the other way to put his team up 1-0! A deserved start.
It was his second goal in the match after the first one got cancelled due to offside.
Caicedo passes it to Estrada from the centre-line and he lets Valencia through, who is causing all sorts of troubles! He tries to get past the goalkeeper, who tumbles him down! PENALTY!
Reactions below:
Michael: We’re 5 minutes into the World Cup…. And the corruption has already started 😂😂😂😂 #QatarWorldCup2022 #QATECU.
Paul: Can someone please show me why that goal is dissallowed. Wtf!!! Already got Qatari people holding guns to the heads of the VAR team. What a shambles this WC already is. Fuckinghell. 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️ #
Pastor: This is what happened with the disallowed goal. The ball came off Felix Torres, who was challenging the keeper.
It fell to Michael Estrada, whose foot you can see in an offside position. He headed the ball back to Torres.
Correct VAR decision! #QatarWorldCup2022 #QATECU
