Watch: Cody Gakpo pulls off stunner to provide lead for Netherlands against Ecuador in FIFA World Cup 2022

With the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicking off in Qatar on November 20, Netherlands and Ecuador clashed in their second match of the campaign on November 25, Friday and the Oranje looked in supreme touch right from the start.

To add more, within the first 7 minutes, Netherlands’ star player Cody Gakpo managed to put one behind the goalkeeper, providing an early lead for the team and eventually scoring his second goal in the ongoing multinational event. It was special as Ecuador had no time to react to the goal and it proved the fact that Netherlands came into the game as the favourites.

Watch Cody Gakpo’s magic here:

Cody Gakpo is showing what he's capable of, his 2nd goal in World Cup. 🔥#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/l5mlG3MYqb

— United Knights (@UnitedKnights5) November 25, 2022

Netherlands-Ecuador shine in second match of campaign in FIFA World Cup 2022

As things stand, to comment on the match, while the Oranje took an early lead within the first 15 minutes, Ecuador eventually managed to match the lead at the stroke of the first half whistle only to be ruled out by the referee calling it an offside.

However, post the first half, Ecuador’s Enner Valencia produced the goal for the team and eventually matched the lead, making the game an equally poised encounter. It was, however, the Oranje, who kept the hopes alive and started coming up with more intent, as the game inched closer to the end mark.

With every passing minute, the match’s momentum kept shifting between the two teams and at the 60-minute mark, it looked like the match might as well end in a draw, although a chance went begging for Ecuador on the back of a stupendous shot from Gonzalo Plata.

Louis van Gaal’s men looked on fire post their emphatic win against Senegal in their campaign opener, which they won with a scoreline of 2-0. However, the La Tri gave a tough fight against the mighty opponents and awaited their chance to clinch one more to take home the 3 points.

For the unversed, Ecuador’s first game came against the hosts Qatar in the first-ever game of the biggest sporting event, which the latter won comfortably with a scoreline of 0-2, dominating the hosts completely in their own backyard and in their very first game. However, the match ended in a draw and Qatar, the hosts, eventually crashed out of the tournament, on the back of their 1-3 defeat against Senagal earlier in the day.