Qatar and Ecuador will get the 2022 World Cup underway on Sunday when they take part in the tournament curtain-raiser at the Al Bayt Stadium.

The Group A showdown will be the fourth meeting between the two sides, with all of the previous three having also taken place in Qatar.

The head-to-head record between the two nations is evenly-balanced at one win apiece and one draw, while both teams have scored six goals in those games too.

Most of those goals arrived in the most recent contest between the two sides in October 2018, when Qatar edged a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

Almoez Ali and Enner Valencia both helped themselves to braces on that occasion and are expected to feature again on Sunday, alongside fellow 2018 goalscorer Akram Afif for Qatar.

The other two meetings between the two sides both came in the space of a week in 1996, with the first of those ending in a 1-1 draw courtesy of Abdul Aziz Hassan's last-gasp equaliser to cancel out Eduardo Hurtado's goal.

Hurtado was on the scoresheet for Ecuador again one week later, that time in a winning effort with Angel Fernandez scoring the team's second in a 2-1 triumph at Al Asadd.

QATAR VS. ECUADOR HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Qatar wins: 1
Ecuador wins: 1
Draws: 1
Qatar goals: 6
Ecuador goals: 6

MATCH HISTORY

October 12, 2018: Qatar 4-3 Ecuador (friendly)
February 25, 1996 Qatar 1-2 Ecuador (friendly)
February 18, 1996 Qatar 1-1 Ecuador (friendly)

Written by
Barney Corkhill