The first match often sets the tone, not least in how the referees are likely to interpret the laws during the tournament.

The Qataris have known that they would be taking part ever since that fateful day in 2010 when FIFA’s Executive Committee made the decision on the hosting of the tournament.

Although they did memorably reach the final of the FIFA World Youth Championships in 1981, the senior Qatar team has never been able to negotiate the often labyrinthine maze of Asian qualification.

Thus, they are the first host nation to make their tournament debut since the very early days of the tournament when Uruguay did so in 1930 and Italy followed in 1934.

That Uruguay should stage that first tournament was in part down to the brilliance of their Olympic team.

They had won gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics and again in Amsterdam four years later.

In contrast to Qatar, Uruguay had less than two years to prepare and when the tournament began in 1930, the showpiece Centenario Stadium still wasn’t quite ready.

Lucien Laurent wrote his own name into history by scoring the first goal in World Cup history as France beat Mexico 4-1 in a match on the first day.

The Mexicans were destined to participate in more such matches than anyone else.

The United States beat Belgium in the other match and Uruguay soon pitched into the fray.

They reached the final and beat local rivals Argentina 4-2.

"Other nations have their history, we have our football," a Uruguayan politician was said to have declared as they became the first of six host nations to lift the World Cup.

Italy had declined to make the sea voyage to Uruguay in 1930, but backed by dictator Benito Mussolini, they bid successfully to host the 1934 tournament.

Many have subsequently hinted that secret deals were concluded behind the scenes at the FIFA Congress in Stockholm before the tournament was awarded.

This did not extend to granting the host nation automatic exemption so Italy were obliged to qualify and beat Greece to do so.

Again, there was no single opening match, but Italy were away to a flying start with a 7-1 victory over the United States.

Within a few weeks, they too were world champions for the first time after a 2-1 final victory over Czechoslovakia.

By a curious coincidence, when they next hosted the World Cup in 1990, Italy played Czechoslovakia, Austria and the United States, the very nations they had met in 1934.

There was still no showpiece opening match in subsequent tournaments though the idea of a straight knockout was dropped after 1938.

That year the opening round of matches saw the Dutch East Indies lose 6-0 against Hungary. 

They had travelled over 11,600 kilometres and all for a single match.

The territory later became known as Indonesia but still has never reappeared at the finals though they did originally table a bid for 2022.

The war brought a halt to the World Cup, but in 1950 Brazil were chosen as host nation.

There was a parade of marching bands and Lamartine Babo, a noted Brazilian musician, composed a special samba for the occasion before Brazil beat Mexico 4-0 in front of a crowd of over 81,000.

This was a tournament in which there were no straight knockout matches. 

When Brazil faced Uruguay in the final match of a second phase of round-robin matches, they required only a draw to lift the trophy.

Over 200,000 packed into the stadium to acclaim the new champions, except that Uruguay confounded expectations with a 2-1 victory.

It was a disappointment which resonated for many years.

Brazil were back in action on the opening day of the 1954 tournament in Switzerland.

This tournament proved to be the highest scoring in terms of average goals per game and Brazil scored five to defeat Mexico.

Yugoslavia, Uruguay and Austria also won on the first day but by less convincing margins.

Poor Mexico found themselves on the receiving end again in 1958 when they lost 3-0 to host nation Sweden on the first day. 

France really set the tone for the tournament when they beat Paraguay 7-3.

Just Fontaine scored a hat-trick for France, en route to 13 goals in the tournament, still an individual scoring record for any World Cup.

The high scoring theme was taken up by eventual champions Brazil who scored five in both semi and final, inspired by a 17-year-old called Pele.

In 1962, four matches kicked off at the same time.

Whilst most eyes were focussed on the host nation Chile who beat Switzerland 3-1 in Santiago, Mexico were playing once again but this time lost 2-0 to Brazil in Viña del Mar.

Brazil’s second goal was a brilliant effort by Pele but it proved the high point of his tournament, because he was soon injured and missed out as his side retained the trophy.

The 1966 tournament was the first to be televised live around the world, yet the opening match gave little indication of the drama to come.

The Opening Ceremony was very simple and consisted of marching bands and schoolboys representing each competing nation who paraded before FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous, accompanied by The Queen.

"I welcome all our visitors and feel sure that we shall be seeing some fine football," The Queen said as she opened the tournament.

Unfortunately there was little “fine football" as host nation England drew 0-0 with Uruguay, though England did eventually win the tournament.

The first match in 1966 set a pattern for the next three.

In 1970, Mexico participated as host nation in a 0-0 draw with the Soviet Union.

The match was played at high noon, not an ideal time for football in Mexico but just right for early evening television audiences in Europe.

The match was the first to use yellow and red cards as a disciplinary measure.

Referee Kurt Tschenscher gave out five yellow cards in a display which was widely interpreted as setting the tone for the tournament.

"The card system of notifying a caution and sending off should be universally applied in top competition," FIFA's technical report for 1970 recommended.

Though there was some over physical play by some teams, not a single player was sent off in the course of the 1970 finals.

Sixteen years later, the Azteca staged the opening match of the 1986 World Cup as Italy drew with Bulgaria.

By this time FIFA had ordained that the defending champions participate in the tournament opener.

It had happened for the first time in 1974, when Brazil faced Yugoslavia on a grey day in Frankfurt.

The gloomy weather proved an omen for later in the tournament, when heavy rain blighted the second phase.

The final score, perhaps inevitably was Brazil 0 Yugoslavia 0.

The 1978 tournament had been awarded to Argentina in 1966 when one military government was in control.

Although democracy had briefly returned, another authoritarian military junta had taken control two years before the tournament.

"'Ente Autarquico Mundial", an organisation set up by the Junta, made sure that the tournament went ahead without incident. 

In the years which followed many were arrested and subjected to brutal treatment by the regime.

The Junta tried to use the tournament as an early instance of "sportswashing," and even hired public relations agency Burson Marsteller to bolster the public image of the country.

The true cost of the tournament was a state secret, but was probably around £5.1 billion ($6.8 billion/€5.83 million) in today's money, more than double the cost of 1974.

The Opening Ceremony was held in the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires. 

Some 1,700 youngsters aged between 13 and 17 had been chosen because they were of non-voting age to "emphasise the non-political nature of the ceremony," organisers said.

They represented the 16 competing teams in a parade, gave a gymnastic display and recreated a living version of the tournament logo in the centre of the field.

"Today is a day of celebration for our nation of Argentina," Argentina's President General Jorge Videla declared.

"This event is really a contribution towards strengthening peace, for the whole world and for all the peoples of the world. Peace is wanted by everyone."

If the junta were hoping for a showpiece occasion to launch the extravaganza, they were disappointed because defending champions West Germany drew 0-0 with Poland in a poor game.

Argentina made their dramatic entrance under the lights and a cascade of ticker tape the following night.

By the the end of the month, Videla was presenting the World Cup to Argentina's captain Daniel Passarella after they beat the Netherlands 3-1 after extra-time.

Many remained sceptical about the way the competition had been won.

Many years later, Videla was indicted for human rights abuses but FIFA President Joao Havelange had declared "I don’t do politics." 

Not all were convinced by his expression of political neutrality.

The opening match of the 1982 tournament at the Nou Camp in Barcelona was also the World Cup finals debut of Diego Maradona.

He could do nothing to prevent Argentina’s 1-0 defeat by Belgium.

Erwin Vandenbergh’s close range winner was the first World Cup goal on opening day in 20 years.

It was the first time that the colours of the defending champions had been lowered in quite such a dramatic fashion, but within eight years later in 1990, Argentina extended their unwanted record when they lost the opening match a second time.

There had been a stunning display by the Milan fashion houses before an equally remarkable 1-0 victory by Cameroon.

This displayed the best and worst of their play as they had two sent off in the process.

Argentina almost enjoyed the last laugh, as they reached the final.

They also had two men dismissed as they lost to Germany in one of the worst World Cup finals ever seen.

In 1994, the tournament headed for the United States or as organisers preferred to call it, "Gloryland."

Germany beat Bolivia 1-0 in the first match at Chicago’s Soldier Field, but day is probably best remembered for the performance by Diana Ross.

Her set included her hit "Chain Reaction," then she raced up the field to take a penalty and completely missed the goal.

Brazil were rather more accurate with their penalties to lift the World Cup after a final which finished had 0-0 and in truth was little better than many of the drab 0-0 opening matches at previous tournaments.

Victory in Pasadena earned them the right to participate in the opening match of the 1998 tournament against Scotland.

Carlos César Sampaio gave them a lead in the fourth minute and Brazil eventually won 2-1.

They were to return for the final against the host nation France but lost 3-0 after an unseemly episode.

It appeared that team sponsors had pressurised the coach into selecting Ronaldo who had been seriously unwell in the hours before the match.

In 2002, the tournament was staged by joint hosts, so the opening match was held in Seoul, South Korea and the final in Japan’s Yokohama City.

The joy of 1998 evaporated very rapidly for the French, who were also European champions at the time.

They lost to Senegal and ultimately departed the tournament without so much as a single point to their name.

FIFA restored the host nation to the opening match in 2006, partly because the World Cup winners were no longer exempt from qualification.

The tournament opened at Bayern Munich’s new stadium. Dancers performed in traditional lederhosen.

Then Philippe Lahm’s goal after six minutes set Germany en route to a 4-2 win against Costa Rica, watched by Organising Committee President Franz Beckenbauer. 

He was so omnipresent at subsequent matches that many believed he had at least one doppelganger.

South Africa’s World Cup Opening Ceremony in 2010 gave its own foretaste of the competition to come as vuvuzela horns sounded throughout.

Nelson Mandela had been expected to attend, but his great granddaughter was tragically killed in a car crash a few days before and he stayed away.

"Mandiba is here in spirit," South African President Jacob Zuma said as he made the opening declaration before South Africa began with a 1-1 draw against Mexico.

They were eliminated after the first phase and so became the first host nation not to qualify for the second round.

Four years later Jennifer Lopez was a star turn in a cast of over 600 who launched the 2014 World Cup.

Brazil’s 3-1 victory over Croatia again offered no hint of misery to come in the semi-final.

A calamitous night for the host nation saw them concede seven against Germany, who eventually lifted the trophy.

In 2018 Robbie Williams had top billing at the Opening Ceremony alongside Russian singing star Aida Garifullina. It was all beneath the gaze of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s run to the quarter-finals then began with a 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia.

Yet since the one-off opening match was introduced, only three participating nations have also reached the final and of them, only England in 1966 have gone on to lift the trophy.

Although many around the world seem convinced that an outsider might prevail at this most unusual of all tournaments, surely it is too much to expect of the hosts in their own World Cup?