The opening of the 2022 World Cup, the host lost

After 12 years of preparations, the World Cup has gotten underway with the opening ceremonies kicking it off at Qatar’s Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday.

The 30-minute ceremony, narrated by Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman, featured performances from a star-studded cast of entertainers and singers, including K-pop sensation Jungkook of South Korean supergroup BTS and Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi.

Fireworks lit up the night sky above the stadium located some 44 km north of Qatar’s capital, Doha.

The venue, which has a capacity of 40,000 people, was overwhelmed by at least twice that number and police ultimately had to shepherd thousands of angered fans out of the holding area between the main festival park and the perimeter entrance.

After a spectacular opening ceremony, which starred the likes of Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman and BTS star Jung Kook, the sport itself finally took centre stage after being overshadowed by off-the-pitch matters during the build-up.

Qatar and the world need wait no more, after this controversial tournament got underway Sunday with the host losing 2-0 to Ecuador.

The host looked nervous and struggled against an opposition possessing experience and quality. In truth, the game was all but over at halftime, with Ecuador comfortably 2-0 up thanks to two goals by Enner Valencia.

All the excitement pre-match slowly drained away from the stadium in the second half.

It wasn’t the result that many in Qatar would have hoped for.