Ecuador's Enner Valencia had a very eventful start to the World Cup

Ecuador's Enner Valencia had a very eventful start to the Fifa World Cup in the opening game against the host nation Qatar.

Valencia who is the captain of his country and for some fans might be remembered for his spell at West Ham United, thought he scored after just three minutes following a mix-up in the Qatari's box when they failed to deal with a cross.

Valencia nodded into an empty net but the goal was confusingly ruled out after VAR found that Michael Estrada's foot was offside.

However, Valencia didn't let a disallowed goal get to him and he dusted himself down and it wasn't long before he scored a perfectly legitimate goal, slotting home a cooly taken penalty on 16 minutes.

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15 minutes later he then scored a cracking header to give Ecuador a comfortable 2-0 lead, putting the Fenerbahce man in a very good position to be in contention for the Golden Boot.

However, his hopes for continuing in the tournament were put in doubt when he went down injured and was then stretchered off but returned moments later much to the relief of Ecuador supporters.

This was all before half-time but thankfully for him, his second half was a bit less dramatic as he went off on 77 minutes as the score remained 2-0 to the Ecuadorians and that's how it finished.

Qatar will be significantly disappointed by their performance in the game, especially considering the criticism they have received in the build-up to the tournament surrounding human rights.

At the start of BBC's broadcast of the game, Gary Linker spoke out about the controversy surrounding the hosts. The former England striker said: "It’s the most controversial world cup in history, and a ball hasn’t even been kicked. Ever since FIFA chose Qatar back in 2010, the smallest country to have hosted football’s greatest competition, has faced some big questions.

“From accusations of corruption in the bidding process to the treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums where many lost their lives. Homosexuality is illegal here. Women’s rights and freedom of expression are in the spotlight.”

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