To date, no hosts have lost the opening match of a World Cup

From 1974 to 2002, it was always the defending champions who played the opening match, and only in 2006 did the honour go back to the hosts. Germany (4-2 against Costa Rica in 2006), Brazil (3-1 against Croatia in 2014) and Russia (5-0 against Saudi Arabia in 2018) all recorded a win to kick off World Cups they staged. South Africa, meanwhile, were held to a 1-1 draw by Mexico in 2010. To date, no hosts have lost the opening match of a World Cup – a good sign for Qatar ahead of their historic meeting with Ecuador.