Fifa say it was for the offside. But there does seem to be a bit of uncertainty.

Either way the game is back under way. Into the eighth minute now.

Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport at Al Bayt Stadium

Al Bayt had been stunned into silence, it was looking like an absolute disastrous start for Qatar.

But then the reprieve as VAR rules there was a foul on the goalkeeper.

Dion Dublin
Former England striker on BBC One

That is the loudest the stadium has been!

That is amazing. I can't see where the offside has come from.

Is it a push on the keeper, maybe? I don't know why that has been disallowed.

HMMMMMMMMMMM.

We've just seen a replay. I guess they're saying Enner Valencia was offside when the keeper flapped it the first time. But I'm not convinced.

Oh my. The goal has been disallowed for offside.

Video Assistant Refereepublished at 16:06 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2022

16:06 GMT 20 November 2022

Qatar 0-1 Ecuador

VAR are checking this...

Dion Dublin
Former England striker on BBC One

I'm expecting goals.

It has been so exciting. We've seen the stadium fill up, yellow and burgandy everywhere.

Let's enjoy the football.

A couple of flying crunching tackles by both teams so far.

Pedro Miguel, one of 10 Qatar players born outside the country, clatters Moises Caicdedo and concedes a free-kick.

Qatar play a long ball from kick-off and get a man into the Ecuador box but it's headed away.

After all the off-field controversies, the football is finally under way.

The 2022 Fifa World Cup has begun.

Handshakes between the players.

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.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is the fourth time Qatar and Ecuador have met - although the previous three were in friendlies.

They have won one each and drawn the other.

If you're expecting a high-scoring classic here, be warned... Ecuador have kept six clean sheets in a row - four 0-0s and two 1-0s.

Gustavo Alfaro's team have drawn eight of their last 11 matches.

A win here is so important for both teams.

With Louis van Gaal's Netherlands and African champions Senegal also in this group, this is probably the easiest game on paper.

Image source, .

Alex Scott
Former England and Arsenal defender on BBC One

Ecuador have drawn against Brazil in the last two outings. They'll be a team to look out for.