World Cup 2022: All the major action and talking points from Day One

Callum Boyle

It’s finally here

Follow all the action from day one, in our World Cup Hub, as host nation Qatar kick off the tournament against their Group A opponents, Ecuador.

After years and years of waiting and questioning why they decided to host the tournament here, Qatar 2022 is actually upon us.

It all begins with watching the host nation take on Ecuador at a sold-out Al Bayt stadium after the Opening Ceremony to officially commemorate (and sports wash) the start of the tournament.

This will be Qatar’s first-ever appearance at a World Cup finals meanwhile for their South American counterparts, they will definitely fancy themselves to qualify for the knockouts after the news that Senegal, another one of their group opponents, would be without main man Sadio Mané through injury.

Before the opening ceremony, and match, go underway, RTÉ presenter and commentator, George Hamilton set the scene with former Ireland midfielder Ronnie Whelan. Hamilton also explained how a fall in an airport baggage claim area resulted in his facial injuries:

It's another World Cup for @HamiltonRTE and Ronnie Whelan – they set the scene in Qatar ahead of the tournament's opening game: Qatar v Ecuador, live on @RTE2 and the @RTEplayer at 4pm #RTEsoccer #WorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/WoAhsYjw77

— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 20, 2022

The game was not long started when Ecuador scored, through Enner Valencia, only for VAR to intervene with a decision for a marginal offside as the goalkeeper was off his line:

VAR denies Ecuador the opener!
Qatar keeper Alsheeb comes for free and misses.
Confusion reigns as Valencia goal disallowed for offside that nobody can see#FifaWorldCup #rtesoccer
📺Live now on @rte2 and @rteplayer https://t.co/aR8cFzATLN
📱Live updates https://t.co/tttFuTFwB2 pic.twitter.com/e07dAwswcU

— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) November 20, 2022

Valencia was not perturbed, though, as he scored twice more in the opening 31 minutes.

The link below will be all you need to ensure you don’t miss a moment:

Opening games of the World Cup always tend to be a cagey affair but given that not many people (no, not even your football hipster friend) will have watched much of Qatar’s national team, we’re going into this with a real unknown entity of what the quality will be like.

The best way to catch all the build up, moments from the game and post-match reaction from tonight’s first game of the tournament can be found right here where we’ll be keeping you up to date with everything that’s going on.