Qatar vs. Ecuador Prediction: 2022 World Cup Odds

Edgar Chaput
November 18, 2022

The city of Al Khor hosts the opening match of the tournament. It isn’t the most mouth-watering proposition, with Qatar ranked 50^th and Ecuador 44^th.

Ecuador sits as +127 favourite on the odds with the over-under on goals being 2.

Qatar vs. Ecuador Betting Analysis

Ecuador +119
Draw +229
Qatar +226

These two nations are not familiar with each other on the football pitch. They have met only three times in total for international friendlies. The spoils have been perfectly split, with one win for each side and a draw. For what it’s worth, the most recent tilt in 2018 favoured Qatar 4-3.

Given the dearth of significant data on Qatar as a World Cup squad, we’ll argue that, if anything, two things potentially operate in their favour. First, they’ll be playing at home and the opening salvo should be magical. Second, a lot of their players are familiar with each other. Almost half the squad plays for the Qatari clubs Al Sadd SC and Al-Duhail.

Ecuador is more experienced, even though their presence is intermittent. They missed Russia 2018 but made it to Brazil in 2014 when they finished third in their group with a 1-1-1 record. The country’s best outing was in Germany 2006 when they qualified for the Round of 16 but were ousted by England 1-0.

Check out all Team Canada props and World Cup betting.

Qatar

Setting the controversies aside, this is what the host country and national team have been building up to. As astute football fans know, a host is granted automatic entry to a FIFA World Cup. However, that does not mean that manager Felix Sanchez Bas’ squad hasn’t shown some mettle recently.

Arguably the most notable accomplishment came at the 2019 Asian Cup. The peninsular nation surprised many by capturing its first major title. The squad played solid football throughout, eventually topping Japan 3-1 in the final. A reminder that Japan is a regular World Cup presence. What’s more, they dumped out South Korea in the knockout stages, another perennial World Cup nation.

In more recent months, results have been a bit hit or miss. Matches against Asian Qualifying squads have gone well (seven wins, one draw), as have several recent friendlies against Albania and Panama. On the flip side, friendlies against slightly more challenging opponents like Canada and Croatia’s U23 ensemble have not ended well (2-0 and 3-0, respectively).

Ecuador

“La Tri” earned their ticket to Qatar 2022 this past spring with a 7-5-6 win-draw-loss tally in qualifying. It was good for 4^th in their group and, most importantly, enough to make it to the Arabian Peninsula for football’s greatest event.

Gustavo Alfaro’s side is filled with hungry, talented players, but they may just be starting their World Cup journey at the wrong time. They netted 27 goals during qualification matches, which is reasonable, yet have only found the back of the net once during the past five friendlies. Matches against Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Iraq saw them produce pressure, earn multiple corners, give defenders fits, and force glorious saves from keepers, but virtually all for not.

They can rely on big league and big club experience though. Forward Enner Valencia is having a great season in the Turkish league, a trio of players suit up for the Premier’s League Brighton side, and winger Gonzalo Plata adorns the colours of Real Valladolid in Spain’s La Liga, just to name a few.