The Netherlands and Senegal are the favorites to advance from Group A, so Qatar will need to pull off a shock if it wants to avoid being just the second host nation to be eliminated in the first round of a World Cup.
The tournament’s start date was moved up so that the home team could play the opening game on November 20 in Al Khor, where the Asian champions would play Ecuador.
The Qatari team trained for almost four months in preparation for the competition, although they have struggled in recent friendlies, losing to Canada and an Under-23 Croatian team.
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“They are preparing for a World Cup for the first time in their lives. These players are sacrificing their time, they are staying away from home, from their families,” former Qatar player Mohamed Mubarak Al Mohannadi told AFP in September.
The only time the hosts fell at the first hurdle was when South Africa went out in the 2010 group stage.
Qatar will be quietly confident of making an impression in their first appearance at the global showpiece, though, having won the 2019 Asian Cup and reached the semi-finals of the Arab Cup 12 months ago.
Ecuador have qualified for only their fourth World Cup and will be the underdogs in the group.
Three-time losing finalists the Netherlands, featuring Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk and several exciting young players including PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo, take on Senegal the following day.
All five African teams failed to reach the knockout phase of the 2018 edition in Russia, although Senegal will be expected to get through this time after the heartbreak of missing out to Japan four years ago only due to their worse disciplinary record.
Sadio Mane, who finished second in this year’s Ballon d’Or voting to Karim Benzema, will lead a strong squad who won their first ever Africa Cup of Nations title in February.
Aliou Cisse’s men will have to cope with the weight of expectation, as their fans hope to see the side become the first from Africa to reach a World Cup semi-final.
Coach Cisse was part of the Senegal team which made a surprise run to the 2002 quarter-finals, beating defending champions France on the way.
The Dutch return to the finals after missing out on qualification for Russia.
Louis van Gaal, who took them to a third-place finish in 2014, is back in charge and the Oranje are unbeaten since being dumped out of Euro 2020 by the Czech Republic, without the injured Van Dijk.
The winners of Group A will face the runners-up of Group B – containing 2018 semi-finalists England, the United States, Iran and Wales – in the last 16.
Even if it sounds arrogant, the 71-year-old Van Gaal added, “My personal objective is to become a global champion and I want to pass that on to my players.”
I’m doing it for Dutch football, not for myself. Ronald Koeman will take over as coach of the Netherlands after the tournament in place of Van Gaal, who earlier this year disclosed he was getting treatment for prostate cancer.
Georginio Wijnaldum, an accomplished midfielder on loan from Paris Saint-Germain to Roma, broke his leg in the first game and will be out for the Netherlands.
