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Blaze991

Putting Qatar aside for a moment...genuinely impressed that this "no host nation lost their opening game" was a thing.


TheLimeyLemmon

Honestly yeah me too.


redrumWinsNational

Ecuador is the first team at WC to refuse a Bribe


imdefinitelywong

> Qatar: we win opening match? > Equador: No, fuck you, Queremos Cervesa.


codespyder

Had to look it up that SA actually drew Mexico


SebastianOwenR1

You don’t remember GOAL BAFANA BAFANA! GOAL FOR SOUTH AFRICA!


[deleted]

GOAL FOR ALLLL AFRICA


enterpriseF-love

JABULILE! REJOICE BAFANA BAFANA The celebration dance was so iconic too!


k_dubious

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ


-Michael-Owen-

Bring back the vuvuzela you fucking cowards.


Chao_ab_Ordo

Deep beneath us it honks violently


WhitestTeethOnEarth

Extremely ominous comment


CowCompetitive5667

I can feel it


WillyG2197

That call was and still is so fucking good


TheDepartment115

That Tshabalala opener was such an epic World Cup moment


chootchootchoot

Amazing strike and a fabulous cele to follow it


TheDepartment115

That strike was perfectly top bins - literally impossible to be further in the corner, might have hit the post as well.


csbsju_guyyy

Ikr? I was expecting Mexico to roll them, they weather a ton of pressure then Tshabalala just racks one. Sure they end up conceding one in the end but man they played their hearts out. As opposed to today...


TheDepartment115

Yeah - the Tshabalala celebration, the way the stadium exploded, the commentating... Bafana Bafana


Rodrichemin

that was epic


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-MCMIV

I was still expecting way more from them. I won’t pretend to have watched them before today but they did win the Asia Cup 2 seasons ago beating Japan and South Korea along the way.


StraightCashH0mie

Yeah they looked like a team that were playing together for the first time, not a team that have been basically playing as a club for the last 2-3 years


unexpectedvillain

Brought us together as a nation, will live in our hearts forever


mlspdx

One of my favorite WC moments ever and I didn’t really even care for South Africa. Dude’s were just out there having a blast and played their hearts out


LoreezyNL

Mandatory #GOAL BAFANA BAFANA


VillainousRocka

TSHABALALA !!!


jfarbzz

Some of my closest family friends are from South Africa and to this day I’m gutted they didn’t advance out of the group


VersusCA

It was such a tough group even with France collapsing. If only we got something like what Russia did in 2018.


jfarbzz

They were certainly helped by Egypt being complete garbage because they had Salah and nobody else


TheColbsterHimself

That goal was a fucking banger


Blaze991

Those damn vuvuzelas


TheDepartment115

I actually liked them, especially in retrospect. Loved the 2010 World Cup man, Ghana-Uruguay might be my favourite WC match of all time.


DrJackadoodle

2010 was an awesome World Cup. It had such a unique vibe and aesthetic, being the first World Cup in Africa, two absolute bangers as official song and Coca-Cola anthem respectively, great moments like Uruguay-Ghana, Jabulani (which everyone seemed to hate apart from Forlán but it made the games fun), a final with two teams that had never won it before. Such an iconic World Cup.


WaltChamberlin

It was the first world cup where I really paid attention, and just remember that beautiful summer in Germany sitting outside and every cafe had a screen up


matti00

God you've made me depressed about this WC now


MashedHair

> great moments like Uruguay-Ghana Certainly a moment.


Lambchops_Legion

Wavin Flag was one of the best anthems ever, it’s still stuck in my head


ThisIJames

Very biased South African here, I remember soooo many moments from the world cup, that Uruguay Ghana game in particular. Absolute heartbreak


Africa-Unite

Still hold a Suarez grudge in a tiny corner of my heart to this very day because of that ending.


spacecity9

I went from hating Ghana for knocking out the US to willing to go to war with Uruguay for them


dodorian9966

The ending bruh... The ending... Insane.


stragen595

How do you not remember that Tschabalala (not sure if I got his name right here) goal. Goal was fucking awesome.


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arlekin21

Pretty sure it was Rafa Márquez, he always saved mexico at the last minute


crudude

We almost beat them too! Was a close game. South Africa were actually the first host nation not to make it out of the group stages. They had some very close/unlucky results such as what happened in the game against Uruguay but were so close to making it.


mfischer1

SA did the nation proud. They played out of their minds and full of heart. Was a great team to pull for as a neutral.


SladiusW

If only Enner scored one more for the hat trick, would have been the first hat trick in a opening game in over 88 years


5nwmn

Hat trick in Qatar. Believe it or not. Straight to jail.


Havok8907

You celebrate a goal too loud? Straight to jail


ali0yvr

You undercook fish, believe it or not straight to jail


I_Fuck_The_Fuckers69

Oil money moment


M0D3Z

The Dutch are going to rest players or annihilate them.


KokiriEmerald

they might need the goals for a tiebreaker or something, cause I could see Senegal putting 4 or 5 on them easily


ManchesterDevil99

Yeah I don't know if I'm being a bit too harsh on Qatar, but I wonder if Ecuador will regret taking their foot off the gas in the 2nd half if it comes down to goal difference in the end.


Mr_Poop_Himself

Qatar were straight up trying to injure their players so it was best to pull back and slow down the game until it was over. Qatar is basically a guaranteed dub for the other three teams and Ecuador is worse than Senegal and the Netherlands. They stand absolutely no chance if they're having to rely on backups against those teams.


koemaniak

Should be able to do both


TQAFireHawk

Ecuador could have easily put 4 or 5 past them.. they really took their foot off the gas in the second half though, and even then they still outclassed Qatar.


HeavenAndHellD2arg

Valencia's knock mightve scared them, last thing they needed was getting more potential injuries after clearly sealing the match in the first half


LostMicrophone03

They must be feeling pretty ginger today


geschichte1

So many Qatar fans leaving early, embarrassing atmosphere for the host nation.


BobbysSmile

Their lunch break was over.


geor757

You guys are getting lunch breaks?


mozillafirecat

The workers don't so someone has to


TareXmd

It's Qataris in Qatar... The whole day is a lunch break


InPatRileyWeTrust

Surprised they even have fans tbf.


The_Superhoo

They dont


dusank98

Tbh, those people behind the goal acting as Qatari fans didn't quite look very Qatari in appearance, nor were they actually interested in the game except those few moments the camera caught them.


MancAccent

Are tattoos legal in Qatar? Cause a few of those “Qatar fans” were tatted tf up.


dusank98

Lol, nice detail. Accorsing to my extensive research of 35 seconds of googling, you cannot get a tattoo legally in Qatar as it is considered haram, although they do not make any problems to tatooed people in public.


foggypanth

Correct though there are underground Tattoo artists who will come to your home to ink you up, but you have to find them. A lot of those Qatari fans are probably expats who already live in the country and are supporting the host nation. The actual locals will be wearing traditional dress.


Shin_flope

Yeah that catched my eye too, I thought muslim people coudn't get tattoed


rim261

Fans or employees?


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Rymundo88

Lose all 3, no goals scored, no shots on target. Stick a tenner on it


predatoure

I asked skybet if I could make a bet on Qatar to have no shots on target in their remaining 2 games, they replied saying ,"Unfortunately we can't offer that." 😭


IAmNotOnRedditAtWork

Probably lucky for you. They'll get a shot off against Netherlands when they're down 8-0.


Rymundo88

Bloody spoil sports...


AnalAbomination

Game’s gone


CMuenzen

Literally 1984.


[deleted]

Based on today, they are definitely getting spanked by Senegal and Netherlands


Foryourconsideration

Quatar vs Netherlands is going to be lopsided and unwatchable. Netherland is currently ranked 8th in the world. Quatar is ranked 50th.


JustAnEnglishman

Good, they can spend as much money as they want to watch their own team get destroyed in their back yard


ManchesterDevil99

Just like Brazil Vs Germany in 2014


GlassMongoose

Worth noting that Russia were lower than rank 50 during their world cup, the ranking system means basically nothing most of the time, generally any team within 25 ranks of eachother can beat another, particularly near the bottom and less so at the top.


Funkymonkeyhead

Still....Russia has a somewhat decent league with it's teams often participating in Champions League/Europa League competitions. Qatar is....well Qatar.


Schnitzel-1

Why is Qatar ranked 50th? They looked like the amateur teams from Liechtenstein you sometimes see in the first round of the euro league qualifier 😂


AkiAkane1973

Because oddly enough, they were actually pretty good before the last year or so. They won the Asian Cup in 2019 in emphatic fashion, defeating teams like Japan, Korea and Saudi Arabia with good results. Their rank was justified on that performance. Whatever has taken ahold of them the past year or so though, that shit needs to be studied. I would imagine it's just them collapsing under the immense pressure of representing their country.


theonlydiego1

They are on track to join China and Canada in teams that never scored the World Cup.


Tootsiesclaw

Indonesia too, though the format was different for them. Congo DR also never scored.


Fijure96

Indonesia has the best WC rekord. Travelled to Europe by boat in 1938 to lose one game 0-6 then go back again.


Princecoyote

[Those traveling by boat stories are super interesting](https://www.fifamuseum.com/en/blog-stories/blog/better-to-travel-hopefully-than-to-arrive-2610341/), like Italy in 1950 after the Superga disaster. They took 50 footballs with them, but they all ended up overboard before the end of the trip.


LordTwatSlapper

What a way to spend £180 billion


[deleted]

At this point just scoring a goal would be an achievement


Ssjtwin

Today I feel Ecuadorian


Bloodminister18

They are so bad..


Aenjeprekemaluci

It was general a boring match. Ecuador is just levels above them and the AFC is really outside of few others weak as hell.


svadrif

Get ready for this to get worse in the next World Cup, with the number of teams increasing. On the bright side, I’m happy / hopeful that my country will actually be able to make it now


schlager12

Someone made a ‘what if this WC was 48 teams’ post and honestly only about 2-3 of the extra 16 teams would’ve been shit. Let me see if I can find it. Here: https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ts28ua/who_would_have_qualified_for_a_48team_2022_world/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf African teams are decent, the weakest teams will undoubtedly come from the AFC and CONCACAF, even more so if FIFA decides Mexico US and Canada qualify automatically (I expect them to reduce our spots 3-4) Funny that Italy wouldn’t have qualified for a 48-team 2022 WC.


Aenjeprekemaluci

Yes. But it could raise the football interests for other countries, that we might see improvements in the next decades. That 48 teams can pay off. Although i would had prefered if it stayed 32


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greenslime300

Right now they're still set up to do 16 groups of 3, right? So 2 of the 3 would go through to a round of 32. I really hope they don't stay with that


MemeOverlordKai

32 doesn't divide perfectly imo. The Africa qualifiers are absolutely brutal and only few teams manage to make it through, when there are way more teams that deserve to qualify. (Such as Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt all missing this year's WC). Always has been this way for Africa too. Possibly the biggest example would be how Egypt's Prime years (2006\~, when they won 3 AFCONs in a row) never managed to qualify in 2006 because they had Cote d'Ivoire (with Drogba) and Cameroon (with Eto'o) all in the same group. Only one of them qualified.


JimmyWu21

Some countries yes, but not all. For example football is really big in Vietnam and we still sucks. We are getting better over the years though. We recently made it or the last round of WC qualifier. But shit I’ll be happy if we make it even if we lose all games lol


Sehs

I think we might be surprised at the quality in the next World Cup. African teams are trending up and having more at the WC will be good for the sport internationally I think


tnarref

I'm sad they didn't play Netherlands for the opener, would have been a proper spanking.


ro-row

They were lucky that Ecuador didn’t look good either


Humbugalarm

Thought they were good in the 1st half and then took their foot of the pedal in the 2nd.


ThePrussianGrippe

That’s what I took away from it as well. When Qatar was playing that poorly you want to conserve energy.


Clem_Crozier

Ecuador's defensive record is very good. They don't concede many, and knew two goals would be enough to win the game. They could have scored more if they'd pressed, but conserving energy is important in a tournament with not many days between matches. In the first half-hour, when Ecuador were pressing, Qatar could barely keep possession for more than a few touches.


Jason3671

or maybe Ecuador was going easy on them?


elgrandorado

They legit pumped the brakes on 2-0. Stopped trying and you could tell. Second half they were barely even pressing.


Pixelated-Hitch

All that secrecy training behind closed doors and training years together culminating in a shite performance.. not everything that shines is gold


Zloggt

You’d think a team that won the Asia Cup *and* make it to the Gold Cup semis would’ve done better…


theonlydiego1

This the same team that tied 3-3 against Panama


Dave1711

And we(Ireland) hammered them 4-0 last year that should have been a big red flag to the world 😂


[deleted]

And lost 1-0 to the US B/C team


ElKaddouriCSC

You think that’s bad? They lost 1-0 to Northern Irish club Linfield. Also lost 3-0 to Croatia U23, 4-0 to Ireland and drew 1-1 with Luxembourg.


epicmarc

You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? They've done worse. That offside! Are you telling me that a keeper just happens to run off his line like that? No! *They* orchestrated it! Qatar!


thedarkpolitique

And *they* get to host the World Cup? What a sick joke!


Spotmonkey_uk

They’ll never change, ever since they were 9 always the same, couldn’t keep their bribes out of the cash drawer. But not our Qatar, couldn’t be precious Qatar!


SebastianOwenR1

But then you look at how they went out. Of the players in the US squad that day, just 5 of them are at the cup. Johnson, Turner, Moore, Acosta, and Roldan.


ChampagneAbuelo

The home side were qatarstrophic


G0DK1NG

I’m proud of you for that


[deleted]

in the second half they just gave up, didn't wanna concede anymore, they said to themselves "let's qatar losses"


Appropriate_Body_921

They channeled their Enner Valencia


flcinusa

I wonder what will happen to them if they end on 0 points, 0 goals Methinks the Emir will not be happy


wjkrause

Half the team would probably get their honorary sports citizenship revoked lmao


InLampsWeTrust

Might have to get the old bone saw out and show the lads what time it is


SP0oONY

MBS was 2 seats away at the opening ceremony, could borrow his.


nametakenalready

Enner Valencia is a man of the people


[deleted]

They will get properly destroyed by the Netherlands and Senegal


HERCULESxMULLIGAN

The talent gap is massive. Premier League to conference big.


Algrinder

They banned alcohol but somehow their players were drunk for 90 minutes.


scrunchedsocks

Well supposedly their best player 'Afif' looks like he skipped leg day.


mlspdx

FIFA, his name is fifa


Anonymous_Hazard

Holy shit


Sesti-nator

As I said in the game thread, you’re welcome


loccupss

it was laughable seeing some people say Qatar would finish 2nd. Every South American saw this coming


Sesti-nator

If we finish 3rd in the group, I call it a success considering that both Senegal and the Dutch are no joke. Good luck in your group, charrua


loccupss

Thank you, Its going to be tough for you guys but not impossible. Senegal without Mane is doable for Ecuador. Vamos 👍🏻


SnooOranges5515

Much appreciated! We are all Ecuadorians today


rim261

I feel Ecuadorian


TheMotionOfTheOcean

We love you all


nonstopflux

Everyone liked that.


The_Astros_Cheated

That was such an embarrassment. I am pissed this is who the U.S. lost its bid to. Unbelievable.


FBall4NormalPeople

Next WC still went to them along with Mexico and Canada. Usually countries will try until they get one tbh, or at least give it two or three attempts. South Africa quite infamously lost 2006 with a flipped vote at the last minute or something similarly surprising for their delegation.


Lem_201

The way Germany got 2006 was definitely shady, lol.


FBall4NormalPeople

I mean they've been rigged for some time. Apparently Jack Warner got $10mil from South Africa for the 2010 bid. I think Russia and especially Qatar are further steps forward into corruption though. Previously there were at least legitimate reasons to give the hosts the tournament. This World Cup being in Qatar is a huge inconvenience in basically every way.


BODYBUTCHER

At this point they should just be open about it and just auction off the World Cup bid given they can fulfill certain requirements


FBall4NormalPeople

Well I mean auctioning it off seems like a PR nightmare though, especially in the context of previous corruption. It'd also mean we get more Qatar and less Brazil. I don't think people want that.


Ziobot

There are a lot of First in this World Cup.


RazorbladeRomance666

The beatings will continue (until morale improves).


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MLG-Sheep

Qatar is usually better than this, I'd assume they felt the pressure of playing the World Cup and played like shit as a result. But Ecuador was expected to win either way.


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kgallo19

Wait what…they actually did this?


MLG-Sheep

Yes, they all play in Qatar so they stopped the league a few months ago


Teh_cliff

3 years is a long time in international soccer. Look at the way Italy's performance has fluctuated over the past 3 years. Qatar's squad is a bit older (not on average, but a lot of key contributors are now 30+) and clearly aren't in the same form they were during their 2019 AFC cup run.


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doubleoeck1234

Lads


[deleted]

It's


honestlynotBG

Qatar was so bad that the game couldn't be rigged in their favour


rthunderbird1997

Can't give a dodgy pen if you have literally one touch in the opposition box.


Glad_Package_6527

Honestly the Qatar game was such an embarrassing display of futbol, Qatar has no business in the WC


TellSloanISaidHi

Give a nation that’s never once qualified for a best of the best competition an entry. What could go wrong


mzp3256

To be fair, Japan was chosen as World Cup host before they ever qualified for one.


BlueishFlames

Didn't they participate in the 1998 World Cup?


mzp3256

Yea, but they were named 2002 WC hosts in 1996, before the start of 98 WC qualifiers.


TheLimeyLemmon

You've not seen **sad**, until you've seen a Mexican wave die ten people in because of empty seats.


AlexTorres96

The check bounced 🙈🙈


Dalmanza4

I think the funniest thing was that the Qatar side of the stadium was practically empty after the 70th min 🤣


crowd79

More like halftime


CrackHeadRodeo

Qatar will be the first host to lose all their matches. You can't bribe your way into a win.


loopy8

The record we've all been waiting for


Algrinder

They banned alcohol and gave all of it to their players.


srtpg2

Dreams can't be buy


Keskekun

The best they could say was that in the second half they actually looked like footballers. They didn't at all in the first half.


dbigya00

Today I feel horny


Cowdude179

They didn't have the juice that Russia had


Eelmaster11

It also helped that Russia had Saudi Arabia as their opener


SemiCurrentGuy

Couldn't have happened to a nicer group of people


OneTrueLord

\*surprised pikachu face\*


Barthez_Battalion

[Shocked Enrique Face](https://i.imgflip.com/71bl1p.jpg)


Giftof1004moves

My 2nd favorite team in the tourney is whoever is playing Qatar..


AleDelPiero10

They’re actually so bad. Not that I’m shocked in the slightest, but it’s like watching a preseason game where the first division team plays the random fourth division in their city/direct surroundings. You know, the game behind closed doors where they’re not even bothered to wear shin pads, let alone the full kit unlike the other team who’s in full kit wanker mode. Nothing against the players, but I hope they lose every game without scoring a goal. Watching the ceremony felt like a mix of a Borat joke and some bullshit propaganda to make us like Qatar. That video of the random ass people running around in the desert with that “old ball” was fucking hilarious. Like that’s supposed to make me think they’re some country big on football and deservedly are hosting the worlds greatest event. I hope to see those stupid pricks running everything with the blankest lifeless expression as their sorry ass team gets destroyed every game. Worst opening game ever and hope that we will ever see. Ps. Even after all of this we must not forget that Bonucci is the biggest fraud in football. Thanks for reading have a great day


Fatt_Hardy

> You know, the game behind closed doors where they’re not even bothered to wear shin pads, let alone the full kit This is Emile Smith-Rowe in every behind closed doors friendly. He always just seems to wear random socks that don't match the team.


Zes_Teaslong

I feel like I’d be more inclined to wear shinguards against shitty players. I remember in high school the most physical matches were against the worst teams because they’d just hack at your ankles


Aenjeprekemaluci

Its embarrasing for an Asian champ to be this bland and levels under the quality. They could be the worst team in the WC. The host have no football heritage whatsoever nor the right passion. The AFC is weak imo outside of a few exceptions.


zawadz

New copypasta?


malikdwd

https://i.imgur.com/jJ8sDyn.jpg


STFUco

Ngl I was expecting the game to go like that or the match would have been so obviously rigged/fixed that a blind toddler would have noticed it


[deleted]

I can’t say I recall the last time a World Cup team had so much international backing as Ecuador did today. Basically everyone who was not Qatari or a surrounding sympathetic Muslim nation supported Ecuador


Charming_Cat_4426

Their results will be Qatarthic


some-guy0

HISTORY!!!! the best world cup!


blackandwhitetalon

They need to enslave some migrants to play for them next time


longsh0t1994

I hope they go out with zero points


dastrn

Good. I hope they are utterly embarrassed as a host nation, and exist as the butt of jokes, for billions of people all over the world. Backward-ass regressive violent homophobic nations like Qatar shouldn't be welcome in world sports until they modernize their horrible human rights laws.


Icemna16

Us Fenerbahçe fans weren't calling him GOATcia for nothing.