It was not supposed to be this way.

Qatar has spent more than a decade in preparation and splurged billions of dollars to put itself on the global stage. It has promised to make the world "proud of the Middle East" as the first country from the region to host the globe's most-watched event.

It has recruited the most prestigious coaches and built a sophisticated network of youth academies to train next generation talent. It has taken over European football giants to get the hang of their operational know-how and management expertness.

It has lured big-names into playing in their domestic leagues with fat paychecks so than the local players had a chance to learn from the cream of the crop on the pitch. It has made giant strides in a short span of time and achieved initial success after swatting aside traditional powerhouse Japan to be crowned Asian champions for the first time in history.

However, when everything seemed to go according to plan, Qatar froze and failed spectacularly. Just five days into the World Cup, a shock 2-0 opening defeat to Ecuador and another 3-1 reverse at the hands of African champions Senegal have brought the country back down to earth.

If it was still mathematically possible for Qatar to make it to the knockout stages right after their loss to Senegal, the hosts' slim hopes of creating unlikely miracles were ruthlessly dashed later on Friday when Netherlands drew 1-1 to Ecuador in the other Group A tie.

Though Mohammed Muntari netted Qatar's first ever World Cup goal, it was nothing but a footnote to a disastrous debut. Qatar not only became the first hosts to lose the opening game of the tournament, but also made unwanted history as they suffered the earliest exit by a host nation in the World Cup's 92-year history.

"We would like to say we're very sorry to the supporters, to the country," said Qatar defender Tarek Salman, who looked disconsolate after the huge blow. "We have made them feel bad about losing two games in a row in the World Cup."

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez, however, took a philosophical route when reflecting on their underperformance. "It's a small country, not a very large population," he told a press conference. "It's our first time at the World Cup. If we can take part again, that would be great. It's always useful to get more experience.

"We have been working for so many months to be able to give a good performance. But sometimes the match does not play out as you expect. It also depends on the opponents' performance. We didn't play at our top level."

"The World Cup will finish but football will continue here," the Spaniard added. "It's a football country and they want to keep developing young talent so they can reach the senior team. We can keep on competing within our limitations in Asia."

"By doing that, we'll get more experience and we'll be able to play in more competitions like this."

Qatar, who did not have a single shot on target in their opener, were serenaded by a boisterous section of supporters behind the goal after a battling performance at the Al-Thumama Stadium. They roared and chanted incessantly, their loyalty to the team remarkably unswerving and incredibly unaffected by knotty issues off the pitch.

To be fair, this was a much better performance from Qatar than against Ecuador and they know they're capable of more, but the cold reality is their defensive frailtes have been exploited too easily during a competition where the margin for error is razor thin.

The extent Qatar went to to drive their team to reach their full potential is admirably sensational, but sadly it was far from enough in the end. 

Elsewhere in Group B, England were greeted with boos after laboring to a goalless draw with the USA to miss the chance to seal early qualification. Gregg Berhalter's resilient side continued their record of never losing to England in the World Cup despite their illustrious opponents' vastly superior squad.

"A draw isn't the end of the world for us, it puts us in a great position in the group," observed England captain Harry Kane. "After our first performance people thought we were just going to landslide every team we play, but it's not the case."

With with four points from two games, the Three Lions will still advance if they avoid a four-goal defeat by neighbors Wales on Tuesday, while the USA will have to beat Iran, who conjured two goals deep into stoppage time to pull off a historic victory earlier in the day, and keep their dreams alive.