Valencia leads Ecuador to 2-0 win over hosts Qatar in World Cup opener

Enner Valencia’s two first-half goals led Ecuador to a dominant 2-0 victory over Qatar on Sunday.

This ler the home nation froze on their big night with an error-strewn display that left them as the first World Cup hosts to lose their opening game.

Valencia already had a third-minute header ruled out by VAR for offside.

After which he slotted in the tournament’s opening goal from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after being brought down by nervous-looking goalkeeper Saad Alsheeb.

He powered home a 31st-minute header for the second and the South Americans then cruised home.

Following the two goals, an outclassed Qatar struggled to mount any meaningful attacks and had only a fluffed header by Almoez Ali to show for their limited efforts.

The other teams in Group A, Senegal and the Netherlands, meet in one of three games on Monday.