To commence the World Cup group stage, Qatar, the home country, will take on Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. ET. Qatar is coming into this game with its last couple of times on the pitch having been in late Sept. It lost to Canada 2-0 and drew with Chile 2-2. It did play 5 friendlies from Oct. 13-Nov. 9 as well, winning all 5. Qatar sits 50th in the world per FIFA’s official rankings. All of Qatar’s players are part of a club in the Qatar Stars League, most of which compete for Al-Sadd.

As for Ecuador, it sits 44th in the world. They have drawn their last 3 matches against Iraq, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Ecuador has players from an array of clubs with the most notable few players coming from LAFC and Brighton. Expect to hear the names M Jose Cifuentes and F Moises Caicdeo called often as they should be the most impactful players for Ecuador. F Enner Valencia has the most goals (35) for the nation.