The Netherlands and Ecuador have bolstered their chances of qualifying for the second round of the World Cup after drawing 1-1 in a match held this evening at Khalifa International Stadium during the second round of matches in Group A of the 22nd FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar. Both the Dutch team, who were runners-up in the tournament three times in 1974, 1978, and 2010, and Ecuador now have four points from two matches, having previously won their opening games against Senegal and Qatar by identical scores of 2-0.
The Netherlands opened the scoring early with Cody Gakpo finding the net in the minute with a mid-height shot from outside the box to the right of goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez.
Ecuador equalized in the 49th minute through Turkish Fenerbahçe striker Enner Valencia, who capitalized on a mistake and a cut ball from the Dutch defense, sending a rebound from goalkeeper Andries Noppert into the orange net. This brought his total to three goals in the current tournament, having already scored twice against Qatar in the opening match. However, he left the field on a stretcher due to injury in the 88th minute.
