{"id":11393,"date":"2022-11-20T14:26:14","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T14:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener"},"modified":"2022-11-20T15:05:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T15:05:31","slug":"four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener","title":{"rendered":"Four things to look out for in Fifa World Cup opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. <\/strong><\/span>The long wait for the first Fifa World Cup in the Middle East is over as hosts Qatar and Ecuador prepare to raise the curtain on the 2022 edition of football\u2019s biggest international tournament. Here are four things to look out for in Sunday\u2019s match at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.<\/p>\n

Almoez Ali threat<\/b><\/p>\n

Almoez Ali has shown a penchant for performing well when it matters most. The 26-year-old striker was the top scorer at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, in which Qatar participated as tournament guests, with four goals in five games.<\/p>\n

He was also his team\u2019s leading marksman at the 2019 Asian Cup, netting nine times in seven matches.<\/p>\n

Ali, who was born in Sudan and moved to Qatar as a child, has yet to score in six international outings in 2022, but is likely to be key to his team\u2019s chances of a successful World Cup debut.<\/p>\n

Alfaro impact<\/b><\/p>\n

Since replacing Jordi Cruyff as Ecuador\u2019s boss in August 2020, Gustavo Alfaro has transformed a promising but erratic squad into one of South America\u2019s most feared national teams.<\/p>\n

An impressive World Cup qualifying campaign saw them finish fourth in the South American group, behind only Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, and above teams of the caliber of Chile, Peru and Paraguay.<\/p>\n

And Alfaro\u2019s men appear to be peaking at the right time, going unbeaten in their past seven matches, a run that included victories over Nigeria and Cape Verde, as well as draws against Argentina, Mexico and Japan.<\/p>\n

Ecuador\u2019s defence<\/b><\/p>\n

Led by Bayer Leverkusen center-back Piero Hincapie and Brighton left-back Pervis Estupinan, Ecuador boasts one of the tournament\u2019s most solid defences.<\/p>\n

Ecuador conceded just 19 goals in 18 qualifiers and have kept clean sheets in each of their past five games.<\/p>\n

But, with only one goal in their past five outings, there are question marks over the team\u2019s attacking options.<\/p>\n

Ecuadorian fans will be hoping that 33-year-old Fenerbahce forward Enner Valencia can carry his club form onto the international stage. Ecuador\u2019s all-time leading scorer has netted 13 goals in 12 league matches for the Turkish club so far this season.<\/p>\n

Qatar\u2019s home advantage<\/b><\/p>\n

No hosts have lost the opening match of a World Cup. Qatar have already proved how playing at home can provide a boost in a major tournament.<\/p>\n

Felix Sanchez\u2019s men won the 2019 Asian Cup on home soil, beating the likes of South Korea and Japan in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s a great party where we can enjoy football,\u201d Sanchez said in Saturday\u2019s pre-match press conference. \u201cI hope everyone from all countries in the world, together, can enjoy this experience. I\u2019m happy to be the ones kicking off this competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eritrea<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eritrea. The long wait for the first Fifa World Cup in the Middle East is over as hosts Qatar and Ecuador prepare to raise the curtain on the 2022 edition of football\u2019s biggest international tournament. Here are four things to look out for in Sunday\u2019s match at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[242,243,233],"class_list":["post-11393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eritrea","tag-eritrea"],"yoast_head":"\nFour things to look out for in Fifa World Cup opener - Eritrea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The long wait for the first Fifa World Cup in the Middle East is over as hosts Qatar and Ecuador prepare to raise the cu ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four things to look out for in Fifa World Cup opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The long wait for the first Fifa World Cup in the Middle East is over as hosts Qatar and Ecuador prepare to raise the cu ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eritrea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-20T14:26:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-20T15:05:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_1668941784.85.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"611\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Four things to look out for in Fifa World Cup opener\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-20T14:26:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-20T15:05:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/27\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_1668941784.85.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eritrea\",\"Eritrea\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/all-news\/four-things-to-look-out-for-in-fifa-world-cup-opener\",\"name\":\"Four things to look out for in Fifa World Cup opener - 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