Ecuador captain Enner Valencia scored the first goal at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in the tournament opener at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. Valencia managed to find the back of the net inside just three minutes of kick-off as Ecuador locked horns with hosts Qatar in the first game of the tournament.
Valencia managed to get in a strong header on a brilliant pass from Felix Torres to put the ball in the back of the net and thought he had the first goal of the tournament after a terrible mistake from Qatar keeper Saad Al Sheeb. However, the goal was disallowed by VAR as Valencia was deemed off-side in the build-up.
However, Ecuador were arguably the better of the two teams on the pitch in the initial few minutes of the game and it didn’t take them too long to go ahead as Valencia kept testing the Qatari defense with his solid runs forward. The Ecuador skipper managed to get on the scoresheet finally in the 16th minute after being awarded a penalty for a foul from Al Sheeb.
Valencia was brought down inside the box by the Qatar keeper after finding himself in a one-on-one situation in front of the goal. It was a terrible challenge from the Qatari keeper and Valencia made sure to punish the hosts for his mistake by slotting it home from the spot.
The Ecuador striker looked calm and composed as he tucked the ball in the bottom right corner to send Al Sheeb the wrong way and score the first goal of the competition.