Qatar vs. Ecuador 11/20/22 World Cup Soccer Picks, Predictions, Odds

Qatar and Ecuador face off on Sunday to kick off the World Cup in a Group A showdown at Al Bayt Stadium. There has already been a ton of controversy surrounding this match, with a report that Ecuador players were bribed to lose this game 1-0, with the goal needing to come in the second half of the game.

Outside of being the host country, there aren’t a ton of expectations for this Qatar team to find success. Qatar played three warm-ups for the World Cup in September, and they were really struggled in those games. They lost to the Croatia under-23 team 3-0, lost to Canada 2-0, and played to a draw 2-2 against Chile. Against Chile, they actually held a lead for a bit, but a goal given up in the 78th minute only meant a draw. Attack Ahmed Alaaeldin was hurt last week with an injury, and it’s unclear at this point if he’s going to be able to play here. Ali Asad is the star of this team and will draw the start-up front. They are also expected to employ a 5-man back line here, and they will really focus on the defense to try to find success. The lower scoring this game is, the better the chance they have to win. 

On the other side of this matchup is Ecuador, who has hopes for this World Cup, and that has to start with a win here. Ecuador has played to three straight draws heading into this game, and each of them had a final score of 0-0. The last goal scored for Ecuador came all the way back on June 11th against Cape Verde. On November 12th against Iraq, they had 74 percent of the possession, and four shots on goal, but couldn’t find the back of the net. There have been some talks about Byron Castillo and his eligibility, but the team has decided to leave him off the roster. Angelo Preciado or Robert Arboleda is expected to move into the starting lineup to replace him. 

Each of the last three games for Ecuador has ended in a 0-0 draw, and this game is also going to be low scoring. Neither of these teams are going to get many quality scoring chances, and that will lead to this game being an under. There won’t be more than a goal scored, and the under 1.5 is going to cash.