The greatest show on Earth has finally arrived and will kick off on Sunday, November 20, 2022, with the host nation Qatar and Ecuador getting the show off and running. One day later, Monday, November 21, England will be aiming for a winning start when they take on Iran in a game they are expected to win.

Event # 1 – W/Cup – Qatar vs Ecuador – 11:00 am

The World Cup makes a low-key start when the tournament hosts Qatar face Ecuador in the opening match of the greatest show on Earth. Qatar have been building towards this match since being confirmed as 2022 World Cup hosts 12 years ago and the good news for them – and bad news for Ecuador – is that football’s biggest stage is no place for party-poppers.

A flick through the history books, way back to Uruguay in 1930, shows that no host has ever lost their opening match at the World Cup.

Qatar will be hoping that home advantage will allow them to defy the odds in their opening game and get them off to a winning start in the tournament. Much has been made of the decision to hold the World Cup at this time of the year, but the host, Qatar, will now try and justify their presence by proving to be competitive on football’s biggest stage. Qatar may not have much footballing pedigree, but they have history on their side as the honour of playing in the opening game traditionally went to the hosts and they were unbeaten up to 1974, since then from 2006 to 2018, the hosts have remained unbeaten in the opening World Cup match of the campaign.

Ecuador head into the World Cup having provided plenty of entertainment during the qualifying campaign and were joint-second highest scorers in South America along with Argentina with 27 goals. However, their 19 goals conceded will be cause for concern as Qatar have shown the firepower to trouble teams with leaky defences on the international stage.

KEY STATS

• Qatar – are taking part in their first-ever Fifa World Cup, while also being the first nation from the Arab world to host the tournament. They will attempt to avoid becoming only the second hosts to be knocked out in the first round of a Fifa World Cup, after South Africa in 2010.

• Ecuador – best performance at the Fifa World Cup to date came back in 2006 when they reached the Round of 16. That tournament marks the only occasion that they have won their opening group match, beating Poland 2-0.

• Both sides – Qatar and Ecuador have met three times previously, all matches taking place in Qatar. Their head-to-head record is perfectly balanced with one win each and one draw (6 goals each). Their last encounter saw Qatar win 4-3 in a friendly in October 2018.

The betting tip. A draw

Event # 2 W/Cup – England vs Iran – 8:00 am

England will get their World Cup campaign off and running on the second day of the tournament with a somewhat tricky test against a plucky Iranian side in what will be the first meeting between both nations.

England have been listed as one of the favourites to win the World Cup, but they have not always got off to the best of starts in major tournaments. They will need to get back to their free-scoring ways after struggling to score in the recently concluded Nations League tournament.

England have only managed four goals in their last six matches and will need to improve in this department if they are to make any sort of impression at the World Cup. With that said, since 1966 England have won nothing, coming close to winning the UEFA EURO 2020, only to be denied by Italy in the final at Wembley.

Iran, on the other hand, have made it to five World Cups but have never made it out of the group stages and are the outsiders in their group to do so again this time. In their last World Cup outing in Russia four years ago, Iran won one match, drew one and lost the other as they finished third in a group consisting of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. However, drawing with Portugal and losing 1-0 to Spain showed that they can mix it up with the European heavyweights at major tournaments. Indeed, Iran qualified comfortably for the World Cup 2022, topping their group with eight victories from their 10 matches and conceded just four goals during this run.

KEY STATS

• England – are the only European team to have reached the semi-finals in each of the last two major tournaments (Fifa World Cup + EURO). Amazingly, 12 of England’s last 18 goals at the Fifa World Cup have been scored from set pieces. In fact, 75 per cent of their goals in 2018 came from dead ball situations (nine out of twelve).

• Iran – have never progressed past the first round of the Fifa World Cup, winning only two of their 15 matches (v USA in 1998 and Morocco in 2018). This is their sixth participation in the tournament, including their third in a row.

• Both sides – this will be the first-ever encounter between England and Iran. The Islamic Republic have never beaten European opposition at the Fifa World Cup (D2 L6).

The betting tip. England win.

JUSTBET ODDS – Qatar vs Ecuador

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Prediction Odds on Prediction Odds Calculation

QATAR TO WIN $3.20 which means a $1,000 bet would pay $3,200

ECUADOR TO WIN $2.35 which means a $1,000 bet would pay $2,350

MATCH TO DRAW $3.10 which means a $1,000 bet would pay $3,100

Odds on the Home Team (Qatar)

winning the game 2-0 at full time $15.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $15,000

Odds on the Away Team (Ecuador)

winning the game 1-2 at full time $10.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $10,000

Odds on the game drawing 1-1

at full time $5.75 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $5,750.

JUSTBET ODDS – England vs Iran

Monday, November 21, 2022

Prediction Odds on Prediction Odds Calculation

ENGLAND TO WIN $1.34 which means a $1,000 bet would pay $1,340

IRAN TO WIN $9.00 which means a $1,000 bet would pay $9,000

MATCH TO DRAW $4.75 which means a $1,000 bet would pay $4,750

Odds on the Home Team (England)

winning the game 3-0 at full time $7.50 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $7,500

Odds on the Away Team (Iran)

winning the game 0-1 at full time $17.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $17,000

Odds on the game drawing 1-1

at full time $9.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $9,000.