The opening match between  and Ecuador kicked off at 5pm Paris time (1600 GMT). Defending champions France, aiming to overcome a slew of injuries, begin their title defence against Australia on Tuesday. Meanwhile, build-up to this year’s  has been mired by criticism of Qatar’s treatment of , women and the LGBT community.

James Vasina reports on the day’s events with former France international Louis Saha, football consultant Karim Baldé, our Middle East correspondent Chloé Domat and FRANCE 24’s team in Doha, Simon Harding and Selina Sykes. 

Produced by Arno Pedram, Josephine Joly and Jean-Emile Jammine.

Click on the player above to watch FRANCE 24’s special coverage of the day’s events.