Hosts Qatar opened the 2022 Fifa World Cup in calamitous fashion, easily beaten by Ecuador in a humbling defeat at Al Bayt.
Felix Sanchez's men have been together in camp for the last six months to prepare for the tournament and work on tactics, but a nervous and disjointed performance led to a Group A loss.
With Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal and three-time finalists the Netherlands to come, this looked like Qatar's easiest game on paper but they were totally outplayed.
A dramatic opening to the contest saw Enner Valencia's header from close range ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee, but the South Americans did break the deadlock shortly after.
Qatar's erratic goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb brought Valencia down in the box and the ex-West Ham forward stepped up to convert the spot-kick.
It got worse for the hosts as Valencia powered in another header before half-time to leave the Al Bayt Stadium silenced at the break.
Many supporters who had left the stadium at the interval did not return, leaving the ground around half empty for much of the second period.
It contributed to a flat atmosphere both off and on the pitch, with Romario Ibarra's curling shot being pushed out by Al-Sheeb.
Star men Almoez Ali and captain Hassan Al Haydos were both substituted with 20 minutes remaining, and the side were unable to muster a shot on target.
Valencia (centre-right) spent three years at West Ham between 2014-2017 - including a loan spell at Everton - before moving to Mexican side Tigres UANLQatar's dream turns to nightmare
After the controversies and conjecture, a football was finally kicked in the Qatar World Cup, 12 years on from being named as hosts.
A day that began with real excitement with the opening ceremony, Qatar's dream turned into a nightmare as they became the first hosts in the competition's history to lose their opening game.
The Asian champions, a tournament they won back in 2019, offered no threat in the final third and were unable to test Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez once.
South Africa have been the only hosts not to make it out of the group in 2010, but Qatar could follow as the second with two difficult games left to play.
Ecuador, meanwhile, have set themselves up in a superb position to progress, extending their excellent recent form to one defeat in 16 games and keeping a clean sheet in their last seven.
They were clearly the better side and had the ball in the back of the net after 160 seconds, but Valencia's close range header was ruled for offside by VAR.
There was confusion as to why the goal did not stand, but Felix Torres' initial challenge with the goalkeeper fell to Michael Estrada in an offside position.
Ecuador were all over Qatar, whose goalkeeper Al Sheeb was particularly shaky and he brought down Valencia, who coolly rolled in the penalty.
Qatar barely had a sniff and their first shot came in anger when defender Abdelkarim Hassan strode forward but his effort from range was blazed wildly over.
Star man Ali, who scored nine goals in the Asian Cup triumph, struggled to get into the game and headed wide, while Pedro Miguel headed did the same in the second half.
With much of the crowd already leaving to go home, Akram Afif and substitute Mohammed Muntari both smashed over to bring to an end a disappointing opening evening for Qatar.
Player of the match
E ValenciaE Valencia
Qatar
Squad number9Player nameMuntari
Squad number1Player nameSaad Al Sheeb
Squad number4Player nameMohammed Waad
Squad number2Player namePedro Miguel
Squad number11Player nameAkram Afif
Squad number14Player nameHomam Ahmed
Squad number10Player nameHassan Al Haydos
Squad number19Player nameAlmoez Ali
Squad number16Player nameKhoukhi
Squad number15Player nameBassam Al Rawi
Squad number6Player nameAbdulaziz Hatem
Squad number3Player nameAbdelkarim Hassan
Squad number12Player nameBoudiaf
Ecuador
Squad number13Player nameE Valencia
Squad number7Player nameEstupiñán
Squad number23Player nameCaicedo
Squad number11Player nameEstrada
Squad number19Player namePlata
Squad number20Player nameMéndez
Squad number3Player nameHincapié
Squad number17Player namePreciado
Squad number2Player nameTorres
Squad number10Player nameIbarra
Squad number16Player nameSarmiento
Squad number1Player nameGalíndez
Squad number5Player nameCifuentes
Squad number21Player nameFranco
Squad number26Player nameRodríguez
Line-ups
Qatar
Formation 5-3-2
1Al Sheeb
2Carvalho Deus Correia15Al Rawi16Khoukhi3Al Haj Fadlalla14Ahmed
10Al Haydos12Boudiaf6Mohammed Abdullah
19Abdulla11Afif
1Al SheebBooked at 15mins2Carvalho Deus Correia15Al Rawi16Khoukhi3Al Haj Fadlalla14Ahmed10Al HaydosSubstituted forJadoua Al Bayatiat 71'minutes12BoudiafBooked at 36mins6Mohammed Abdullah19AbdullaBooked at 22minsSubstituted forMuntariat 72'minutes11AfifBooked at 78minsSubstitutes
4Jadoua Al Bayati5Odeh7Abdelmotaal8Thaimn Qambar9Muntari13Djebril Mohamed17Mohammad18Mazeed20Al Hajri21Ali22Barsham23Al Haj Madibo24Al Hadhrami25Abdulsallam26MeshaalEcuador
Formation 4-4-2
1Galíndez
17Preciado2Torres3Hincapié7Estupiñán
19Plata20Méndez23Caicedo10Ibarra
13E Valencia11Estrada
1Galíndez17Preciado2Torres3Hincapié7Estupiñán19Plata20MéndezBooked at 56mins23CaicedoBooked at 29minsSubstituted forFrancoat 90'minutes10IbarraSubstituted forSarmientoat 68'minutes13E ValenciaSubstituted forCifuentesat 77'minutes11EstradaSubstituted forRodríguezat 90'minutesSubstitutes
4Arboleda5Cifuentes6Pacho8Gruezo9Preciado12Ramírez14Arreaga15Mena16Sarmiento18Palacios21Franco22Domínguez24Reasco25Porozo26RodríguezReferee:Daniele OrsatoAttendance:67,372Live Text
Match ends, Qatar 0, Ecuador 2.
Second Half ends, Qatar 0, Ecuador 2.
Corner, Qatar. Conceded by Félix Torres.
Attempt missed. Kevin Rodríguez (Ecuador) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Pervis Estupiñán with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Ecuador. Conceded by Bassam Al Rawi.
Foul by Kevin Rodríguez (Ecuador).
Boualem Khoukhi (Qatar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Ecuador. Alan Franco replaces Moisés Caicedo.
Substitution, Ecuador. Kevin Rodríguez replaces Michael Estrada.
Corner, Ecuador. Conceded by Mohammed Waad.
Attempt missed. Mohammed Muntari (Qatar) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Bassam Al Rawi with a through ball.
Foul by José Cifuentes (Ecuador).
Abdelkarim Hassan (Qatar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Pervis Estupiñán (Ecuador).
Bassam Al Rawi (Qatar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Jhegson Méndez (Ecuador) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Mohammed Waad (Qatar).
Foul by Gonzalo Plata (Ecuador).
Saad Al Sheeb (Qatar) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Ecuador. Piero Hincapié tries a through ball, but Jeremy Sarmiento is caught offside.
Get the latest results and goal notifications for any team at the Fifa World Cup by downloading the BBC Sport app: Appleexternal-link - Androidexternal-link - Amazonexternal-link
Get your daily dose of Fifa World Cup reaction, debate & analysis with World Cup Daily on BBC Sounds
