World Cup: Qatar vs. Ecuador Preview, Odds, Prediction

The opening match of the World Cup is between the hosts, Qatar, the South American team, and Ecuador. These two sides had a completely different path up to this point. On one end, Qatar was automatically qualified, while Ecuador went through hell to reach this tournament, enduring hard and nasty CONMEBOL qualifiers that saw them facing some of the toughest possible obstacles. Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, we are taking off.

Preview

Qatar (+240) doesn’t have a single player appearing outside its country, and that tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this unit. With all due respect, these players don’t have the quality to compete in any of the top European competitions, and may we even add that they can’t play in any of the top ten leagues on the continent.

They were playing friendly international matches while other units competed in the qualifiers. We will neglect the latest events, in which Qatar posted more or less solid results, because they played against the teams who mixed their lineups.

When we roll back the film and examine how they played against Portugal, Serbia, the Republic of Ireland, etc, who were in full competing mode due to their clashes in the World Cup qualifiers, we can learn that Qatar is really a modest crew, with an ultra-defensive approach to the game and pretty much ineffective some would say.

Ecuador (+140) is a very tough and robust rival, rigid in the midfield, and with average talent. La Tri is aware that they don’t have a world-class star, and that their resources are pretty much limited, which is why this team plays carefully and without too much risk.

Players like Estupian, Caicedo, Hincapie, Valencia, Arreaga, are all solid contributors, who blend into a unit extremely well. That’s why Ecuador lost only one game in the previous 10, and had seven draws, with two wins.

Just one game during that interval saw three or more goals, which only backs up our story on the rigid and tough approach. Also, the latest five contests saw just one side scoring. So they are tough and adamant on their part of the field.

Latest News

For the moment, all the players on both ends are available and ready to play. There isn’t any news about injuries or suspensions.

Head to Head Games

The two sides met four years ago in Doha, and back then, Qatar beat Ecuador, 4-3, in a very interesting and exciting matchup. On one side, we saw Almoes scoring twice for the hots while Enner Valencia netted a brace for El Tri.

Prediction

Qatar is the host, and they will probably have big support from the stands and probably around the same as well. Though, our money here is on Ecuador because they know how to play competitive football and because their players come from much better competitions and play at a much higher level. Meanwhile, the odds on their win are at +140, and this pick has a massive value, the one we simply can’t and won’t miss. With all due respect towards Qatar, we simply believe that they play poor football.

Pick: Ecuador +130