Qatar will play a World Cup match for the first time on Sunday as the 2022 host nation get their campaign underway against Ecuador.
Few, if any, previous host nations of World Cups will have gone into the tournament with lower expectations of their chances on the pitch considering Qatar are ranked 50th in the world and have never previously qualified for the competition.
However, they have been handed a relatively kind start to their campaign and, after so much controversy surrounding the decision to award them the World Cup, they will be hoping to at least give a good showing on the field.
Here, Sports Mole looks at some reasons for Qatar to feel confident of their chances heading into the opener against Ecuador.
Home advantage
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Qatar may be massive underdogs heading into the tournament, but history tells us that the hosts often fare quite well at World Cups, even with the odds stacked against them.
At 13 of the previous 21 editions of the competition, the hosts have made it to at least the semi-finals, while only once - South Africa in 2010 - have they failed to make it past the first round.
Qatar are the first Arab nation to host the World Cup, but the only previous Asian-hosted finals also saw an underdog home favourite make a splash as South Korea memorably made it all the way to the semi-finals.
The host nation have played in the opening game of the tournament on 10 previous occasions, and those 10 games have yielded seven wins, three draws and zero defeats.
Most recently, Russia hammered Saudi Arabia 5-0 in Moscow four years ago to give the hosts a perfect start as they went on to reach the quarter-finals.
Decent form
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It is difficult to look too much into Qatar's recent form considering competitive fixtures against fellow World Cup nations have been few and far between.
However, there are some glimpses of optimism from a five-match unbeaten streak - including four successive wins - over the past two months.
Perhaps more significantly, Qatar went all the way in the Asian Cup in 2019 - their first major continental tournament - beating fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan 3-1 in the final.
Striker Almoez Ali was the star of the show on that occasion, netting a competition-record nine goals from just 10 shots on target in seven games.
Sunday's opener will be the home side's fourth match at the Al Bayt Stadium, where they boast a 100% record from their brief history as things stand, winning all three previous outings there by an aggregate score of 9-0.
Experience
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Qatar may not have any previous World Cup experience to fall back on ahead of Sunday's showdown, but they have plenty of international knowhow in their squad for the tournament.
Captain Hassan Al-Haydos leads the way in that respect - he is in line to make his 170th appearance for his country on Sunday - while there are four other centurions in the Qatari ranks too.
Indeed, in total Felix Sanchez's squad boast 1,472 caps and 192 international goals between them compared to 628 caps and 74 goals in the Ecuadorian squad - and almost half of those Ecuador goals come from one man in Enner Valencia.
The average age of Ecuador's starting XIs during World Cup qualifying was comfortably the youngest of any South American side at 25 years and 334 days, and only two players in their squad have made 50 or more appearances for their country.
Kind opener
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Any team that comes through the the notoriously-difficult South American qualifying section has earned their place at the World Cup and should not be regarded as easy touches, but there is no doubt that Qatar have been handed their easiest match on paper first up.
With Netherlands and Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal making up Group A, a tie with Ecuador hands Qatar their best chance at points, and of getting their home World Cup off to a positive start.
While Qatar are ranked 50th in the world, Ecuador are not much better off in 44th, whereas Senegal are 18th and Netherlands eighth.
Ecuador have also only ever made it through the group stage of a World Cup on one previous occasion, and they have lost half of their last 10 matches at World Cups.
Only one of those 10 games ended as a draw too, so we should perhaps expect a result one way or the other on Sunday.
Barney Corkhill
Netherlands
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