TROLLHEART'S WORLD CUP REPORT 
DAY 1
GROUP A
The first group kicked off this evening with the host nation taking on South America's
Ecuador.
It was clear from the beginning that
Qatar were no match for Ecuador, who have not exactly set the World Cup alive, only qualifying for the first time in 2002 and making their best showing in the following tournament, reaching the round of 16 in 2006 but coming a disappointing 12th. So it's not like Qatar were up against Brazil or anything.
You wouldn't know it though, to watch them. Qatar were, to be fair to them, bloody useless. Ecuador embarrassed them with a very early goal (within 2 minutes) which was then ruled offside - a VERY marginal decision, which I feel (without any evidence to back this up of course) that the decision was made so as not to humiliate the holders. At any rate, it didn't take long till Qatar shot themselves in the foot, giving away a penalty as the keeper took down Valencia in the box. The striker then sent the goalie the wrong way and scored a very cool penalty. 1-0 to Ecuador.
Qatar had barely a sniff of goal, in fact most of the time they struggled to hold on to the ball, while Ecuador ran rings around them. The few times they actually had sight of the opposition goal they shot high, wide or otherwise missed poorly. Ecuador sealed it with a glorious header, again from Valencia, and though somehow the match ended up with five extra minutes on each half, and Qatar had a glorious opportunity to at least get something out of the game near the end, again they fluffed their lines and it ended 2-0, an embarrassing defeat for Qatar and the first time the host nation has failed to score in their opening match.
Qatar have now to meet the other teams in their group, Senegal and the Netherlands, and currently reside at the bottom of the group, with Ecuador topping it. Well, obviously: the other two teams have yet to play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp1pNJMQaZI
Tomorrow sees three matches:
Group B
England v Iran: England should be expected to cruise past the Iranians, but as ever, you never know in football, especially with the English team. I'd be surprised if they didn't win though.
USA v Wales: Hard to call. Wales can be great on their day but you may remember Trump crowing about how the American team did in the last World Cup (as if he even knows what any football other than American is, but however) and some of their players play in the Premiership in England, including Chelsea's Christian Pulisic and Leeds' Brenden Aaronson. Could be one to watch, certainly, especially if you're an England fan.
Group A
Senegal v Netherlands: Senegal have a great tradition, having punched well above their weight in the World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals in 2002 and beating the mighty France (who were at the time holders of the title and therefore by definition the best team in the world) but the Dutch are always hard to beat. For non-England fans, this will be the one to watch. It will also further sort the group Qatar are in.
For those who can't or don't want to watch the matches, but are still interested, I'll have a report every evening on how the day's action went. See ya tomorrow then!