•The build-up to the first tournament to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies.
•But Fifa has asked all 32 competing nations to "focus on the football".
After 12 years of questions, criticisms and conjecture, the Fifa World Cup in Qatar is finally underway.
The build-up to the first tournament to be held in a Muslim country in the Middle East has been overshadowed by a number of controversies.
But Fifa has asked all 32 competing nations to "focus on the football".
The hosts Qatar are currently underway against Ecuador at Al Bayt Stadium.
Here are Live Updates:
21:00
FULL-TIME
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
It's all over. Qatar become the first World Cup hosts to ever lose their opening game.
Enner Valencia's double in the first half sealed victory for Ecuador.
90+5 mins
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ecuador win a corner as Bassam Al Rawi blocks a cross with his face. A minute left.
90+3 mins
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
This game petered out ages ago.
20:54
INJURY TIME
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Five minutes added on as Ecuador make a few subs.
20:50
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ten shots now as Qatar have their best chance. Mohammed Muntari runs onto a long ball and hits a lovely volley from the edge of the box that lands on the roof of the net.
20:49
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
There have been just nine shots between Qatar (four) and Ecuador (five) so far.
Since 1966, the lowest combined total in a single game was 11 in 2018 (Colombia v Senegal).
20:44
YELLOW CARD
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Qatar's Akram Afif is booked now
20:37
SUBSTITUTION
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ecuador captain Enner Valencia has done very little since that first-half knee injury. And he comes off now for Jose Cifuentes.
Unless something very unlikely happens in the last 14 minutes, Valencia is the matchwinner for Ecuador with his two goals.
20:37
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ecuador's Piero Hincapie has completed 97% of his passes in this match – the highest accuracy figure of any starter.
The 20-year-old Bayer Leverkusen defender is highly rated.
20:36
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
No host team have ever lost their opening game of a World Cup. Not many can have been as poor as Qatar.
20:34
SUBSTITUTION
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Double Qatar change.
Mohammed Muntari and Mohammed Waad replace captain Hassan Al Haydos and Almoez Ali, who was hoping to become his country's record scorer tonight.
20:32
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Jeremy Sarmiento actually played for England up to Under-18 level.
20:31
SUBSTITUTION
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Jeremy Sarmiento replaces Romario Ibarra for Ecuador.
He joins Brighton players Moises Caicedo and Pervis Estupinan in the team.
20:31
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Anyone feeling like there aren't enough Brighton players in this game? A third is on the way.
20:27
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
This game has the most cards (five yellows) in a World Cup opener since Germany versus Bolivia in 1994 (six yellow cards and one red card).
20:24
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
It's not the best game of football in all honesty. Ecuador's Angelo Preciado needs some treatment after hurting himself sliding the ball out for a throw-in.
20:21
YELLOW CARD
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ecuador's Jhegson Mendez, whose uncle Edison played in the World Cup, is booked for fouling Akram Afif.
20:19
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ecuador have a chance to put this to bed.
Qatar lose the ball and a quick through ball is pinged into Romario Ibarra. He cuts inside a defender and then curls a shot towards the bottom corner, which is saved.
First save of the World Cup.
20:16
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
The other teams in this group are Senegal and the Netherlands. So this was as good a chance as Qatar would get to win a game.
Very hard to see any kind of comeback here. It's all Ecuador still.
20:15
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Neither keeper has made a save yet. Ecuador break into the box but Romario Ibarra overruns it.
20.09
KICK-OFF
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
The second half begins.
Enner Valencia's knock obviously wasn't bad because he's on the pitch too.
19:53
HALF-TIME
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
That was the last action of the first half. Enner Valencia's double has Ecuador in complete control at the break.
45+5 mins
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
That is Qatar's best chance of the first half by a mile.
Almoez Ali is unmarked, six yards out, and he heads wide. A huge miss.
19:45
INJURY TIME
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Five minutes added on for all that VAR stuff.
19:44
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
A stretcher is on for Enner Valencia. But the referee orders the stretcher off as Enner Valencia is on his feet (but hobbling).
19:43
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Enner Valencia is down again, hurting his knee while making a challenge. He could be in trouble here.
19:42
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Enner Valencia is OK after that knock a few minutes ago. The 33-year-old is the oldest goalscorer in a World Cup opening game in case you were wondering.
19:38
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Third Qatar yellow card of the first half as Enner Valencia spins Karim Boudiaf, who brings him down. Valencia is down injured.
19:38
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Enner Valencia is the first player to score five goals in a row for a South American nation at the World Cup.
19:35
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Ecuador have another free-kick. Pervis Estupinan to take. Another free header in the box but Qatar get it away.
19:30
Ecuador scores again...
Qatar 0-2 Ecuador
Enner Valencia heads in the second goal
Give this man the Golden Boot.
19:28
Qatar 0-1 Ecuador
Ecuador have had 62% of the ball. That penalty remains the only shot of the game (since disallowed goals don't count...)
19:26
Qatar boxed in
As you can see from this Qatar heat map, the hosts are struggling to get out of their own half. They have been penned in by Ecuador in these opening 20 minutes.
19:23
YELLOW CARD
Qatar 0-1 Ecuador
Qatar doesn't look like a team that has trained together for about five months.
Striker Almoez Ali is their second player booked for catching Enner Valencia.
19:21
Qatar 0-1 Ecuador
Enner Valencia is now Ecuador's highest scoring player in World Cup history (four goals), moving ahead of Agustín Delgado (three goals).
Valencia is the only player in this squad to have played at a World Cup before, back in 2014.
19:18
GOAL - Qatar 0-1 Ecuador
Enner Valencia
19:16
PENALTY TO ECUADOR
Qatar 0-0 Ecuador
19:08
Qatar 0-0 Ecuador
We've just seen a replay. I guess they're saying Enner Valencia was offside.
19:07
DISALLOWED GOAL
Qatar 0-0 Ecuador
Oh my. The goal has been disallowed for offside.
19:06
Video Assistant Referee
Qatar 0-1 Ecuador
VAR are checking this...
19:05
GOAL - Qatar 0-1 Ecuador
Enner Valencia
Wow!
Ecuador score the first goal of the World Cup.
Pervis Estupinan clips a free-kick into the box. The Qatar keeper flaps at it twice and and Felix Torres lines up a flying acrobatic volley. Maybe he was shooting but it lands on the head of Enner Valencia who heads in from six yards.
19:01
Qatar 0-0 Ecuador
Qatar play a long ball from kick-off and get a man into the Ecuador box but it's headed away.
19:00
KICK-OFF
Qatar 0-0 Ecuador
After all the off-field controversies, football is finally underway.
The 2022 Fifa World Cup has begun.
18:59
Handshakes between the players.
18:57
National anthems time. Gianni Infantino did a speech I largely ignored.
This game was meant to be played tomorrow, as the third game of the tournament.
The opening match of the tournament was meant to be Senegal against the Netherlands at 10:00 GMT.
But in August, they decided to start the World Cup off with the hosts as usual.
England play Iran in the first game tomorrow at 13:00 GMT, with the Dutch game moved to 16:00 and USA facing Wales at 19:00.