“Let’s now focus on the football,” was the plea of Fifa president Gianni Infantino and secretary general Fatma Samoura last week as the countdown to the most controversial World Cup in history began.
Now the day of kick-off has arrived, few outside the organisation responsible for hosting the tournament in the Gulf state have been willing to turn a blind eye to the countless issues surrounding Qatar 2022, none of which have been seriously addressed by world football’s governing body.
There are fans who will be boycotting it altogether, but for others the games themselves will be tainted. The first, as always, is played by the hosts – in this case Qatar – as they face Ecuador in their Group A opener.
Lose, and Qatar’s faint hopes of escaping the group will be all but over, with the Netherlands and Senegal still to come, even if the reigning African champions are without Sadio Mane, who has been ruled out of the tournament.
While the entirety of Qatar’s squad is made up of players based in the country, with just a handful of clubs represented, Ecuador have a rich football diaspora including four Premier League players in West Ham’s Enner Valencia and Brighton trio Moises Caicedo, Jeremy Sarmiento and Pervis Estupinan.
Having failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it remains a momentous occasion when they do reach the finals.
Qatar vs Ecuador
- Date: Sunday 20 November
- Kick-off time: 4pm (UK time)
- Venue: Al Bayt Stadium
- TV channel/live stream: BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with coverage from 3pm
West Ham forward Valencia enjoyed a prolific 2014 tournament, scoring three times as Ecuador finished third in Group E and held France to a goalless draw. As a youngster, the 33-year-old sold milk on the street to help his family and began playing with a ball made of rags; Valencia featuring at another World Cup is a remarkable story.
Since the retirement of his namesake, the former Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia – no relation – he has become the poster boy of the national side, becoming the most expensive Ecuadorian to move overseas when he joined CF Pachuca in 2013.
Perhaps the most notable Ecuadorians are those who can be found at The Amex. Sarmiento could have played for England – and did so at under-18 level – while Caicedo is now back at Brighton after spending last season on loan in Belgium. Full-back Estupinan joined his compatriots this summer.
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How 'awkward so-and-so' Jordan Pickford battled abuse and boredom to become England's No 119 November, 2022Ecuador are led by Gustavo Alfaro, who was only a professional football for four years, but he has made up for that with an extensive coaching career spanning 17 different jobs. His most successful stint came with Boca Juniors in his native Argentina.
There is, inevitably, less of a familiar feel to Qatar, who will be reliant on attacking duo Akram Afif and Almoez Ali, particularly Ali who is their record goalscorer.
They did not have to qualify for the tournament due to their status as hosts, but they took part in the Asian qualifying groups as the first two rounds also helped to decide qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup. Given that Qatar have spent this year playing friendlies and the Arab Cup, there is not an awful lot to go on regarding their recent form, but they drew 2-2 with a strong Chile side in their final match before the World Cup.
It is not the World Cup opener many would have hoped for – but it may eclipse the 2018 curtain-raiser of Russia vs Saudi Arabia.
‘Built in Barcelona’s image’: Why Qatar’s national team could spring a surprise
By George Simms
Qatar is a nation which, despite having a population of just 476,000 as late as 1990, twice came within a game of qualifying for the World Cup. They also came second at the 1981 Fifa World Youth Championship and have competed in football at two Olympic Games.
More recently, this country of fewer than 7,500 registered footballers won the 2019 Asian Cup, not conceding a goal until their 3-1 final victory over Japan.
Since winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup, Qatar has rightly come under heavy scrutiny for its LGBT+ and human rights abuses. But not giving this tiny country’s footballing history and heritage its due can invite the racism allegations which the Qataris have recently brandished.
James Montague, author of “When Friday Comes: Football Revolution in the Middle East and the road to Qatar”, told i: “That is something that the Qataris are using a lot at the moment – the idea that [criticism against them] is racism, orientalism, a conspiracy.”
Qatar’s first brush with a World Cup of any sort instead came 17 years earlier, at the Fifa Youth World Championships in Australia, the equivalent of today’s Under-20 World Cup.
Led by ex-Brazil coach Evaristo de Macedo, the team known as “Al Ennabi”, literally “The Maroon”, shocked Brazil and England’s youth sides before losing to West Germany in the final.
The Fifa technical report after the Brazil game read: “Brazil lost to the amazing Qatar.”
Felix Sanchez is now Qatar’s head coach, having been involved in the Aspire Academy and youth set-up since 2006. A former youth coach at Barcelona, Sanchez was tasked with implementing the “Barca DNA” into Qatar.
Much like Manchester City under Sheikh Mansour, Qatar looked to emulate the Barcelona side of the late 2000s and their La Masia academy structure. Sanchez became Qatar’s U19 coach in 2013, winning the U19 Asian Championship a year later. Since becoming Qatar head coach in 2017, he’s overseen the Asian Cup win, as well as 2019 Copa America and 2021 Gold Cup campaigns.
When Qatar kick off their home World Cup against Ecuador, the discourse will be dominated by the nation’s human rights abuses and anti-LGBT+ laws. We should not let lazy stereotyping around its footballing history creep into these discussions, or we risk providing easy ammunition for accusations of racism and orientalism.
Read George Simms’ full piece on the history of football in Qatar here
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