Qatar vs Ecuador got the 2022 World Cup underway on Sunday afternoon.
Afters years upon years of build-up which has straddled pure excitement and unbridled controversy, footballing matters kicked off when the hosts welcomed Ecuador to the Al Bayt Stadium.
In the early exchanges, it made for a truly thrilling encounter with Enner Valencia scoring a ‘hat-trick’ of sorts, the first strike of which was ruled out by VAR for offside after a lengthly period of confusion amongst fans.
However, the technology didn’t have a problem with Valencia’s ice-cold penalty or emphatic header, which ultimately took the fizz out of the game and saw Ecuador canter to a 2-0 victory.
The Ecuador and Qatar fan who went viral cleared their differences at half time #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/moKUflvlNo
— FIFA World Cup 2022 (@2022_QatarWC) November 20, 2022
In fact, as each passing minute made it clearer and clearer that it would be the South Americans who emerged triumphant, the biggest talking point of the opening game quickly regarded matters off the pitch.
What happened between Ecuador and Qatar fan?
That’s because footage of an Ecuador supporter engaging in an impassioned disagreement with a group of Qatar fans in the stands started to spread across social media like wildfire.
The individual cheering on Ecuador, clad in the yellow home shirt of the nation, appeared to be rubbing his fingers together as part of a gesture that’s commonly in reference to money.
