Ecuador national football team


The Ecuador national football team has represented Ecuador in men's international football since 1938, and is controlled by the Ecuadorian Football Federation. They joined FIFA in 1926 and CONMEBOL a year later.
Discarding an invitation to participate in the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay, Ecuador didn't make their tournament debut until 2002. After finishing above Brazil and Uruguay in the standings, the qualifying campaign marked the emergence of several players, such as Agustín Delgado, Álex Aguinaga, Iván Hurtado, Ulises de la Cruz and Iván Kaviedes, who would set the stage for Ecuador's achievements in the next decade. Having reached the Round of 16 in a memorable 2006 World Cup campaign, they were expected to deliver at the 2007 Copa América but were eliminated in the group stage. Along with Venezuela, they have not won the continental tournament. La Tris best performance was fourth in 1959 and 1993, both times on home soil.
Ecuador plays the majority of their home matches at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito. It is set to be demolished in late 2020 to make way for a new, more modern venue.

History

From a historical viewpoint, Ecuador have been one of the more struggling footballing nations in South America. Despite their past irregularities, however, Ecuador has risen to be a serious South American competitor in recent years.
Football was introduced to Ecuador by Juan Alfredo Wright, who had recently returned from university in England. On 23 April 1899, he and his brother Roberto founded the first Ecuadorian football team, Guayaquil Sport Club. As the popularity of the sport grew in the country, more teams were established. On 30 May 1925, the Federación Deportiva Nacional del Ecuador was founded. In 1930, FIFA sent an invitation encouraging for a men's national team to participate at the maiden World Cup. However, the then-Minister of Social Security and Sports declined the offer as they did not approve of the financial allocation.
In 1938, the I Bolivarian Games were organized, with Ecuador set to take part in the football tournament. On 8 August 1938, they played their first-ever match; a 1–1 draw with Bolivia. Their following game saw the national team earn a 2–1 win against Colombia. Following a 9–1 crushing by Peru and 5–2 victory over Venezuela, Ecuador was tied for the silver medal with Bolivia. A playoff saw the Bolivians emerge triumphantly and the Ecuadorians finished the competition with the bronze medal.
After finishing fourth at the 1959 South American Championship, the team entered the World Cup qualifiers for the first time. They failed to qualify for 1962 finals after inflicted defeats by Argentina.
The 1998 World Cup qualifiers saw the format for qualifying in CONMEBOL changed to a league home-and-away system. This difference made a huge impact on Ecuador's performance as they clinched several important home wins during the campaign. In the end, they achieved a very respectable 6th-place finish, just under Peru and Chile.
Following the appointment of Hernán Darío Gómez for their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, Ecuador recorded a historic 1–0 win against Brazil. A 5–1 win over Bolivia saw la Tricolor only needing a point to qualify for the World Cup. They faced Uruguay, and, after managing to cling onto a 1–1 draw, obtained their spot in Japan.
Ecuador started their 2002 World Cup with a 2–0 loss to Italy. Agustín Delgado scored his country's first World Cup goal; he opened the scoring in a 2–1 loss to Mexico. Though they finished fourth in Group G and 24th overall, Ecuador defeated Croatia, who had achieved third place in the previous tournament, and eliminated the Croats in process.
A disappointing showing at the 2004 Copa América led to the resignation of Gómez, who was replaced by Luis Fernando Suárez. He led them successfully through the latter stages of the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, finishing third to make the finals. In Germany, they were drawn into Group A with the hosts, Poland, and Costa Rica. Wins over Poland and Costa Rica earned Ecuador qualification to the knockout stages for the first time.
executing a free kick against Switzerland at the 2014 World Cup
After a dull 2014 FIFA World Cup, and an unpleasant streak of failing to advance past the group stages of the Copa América, Gustavo Quinteros was hired to help rebuild the national team. Quinteros helped Ecuador reach the quarter-finals of the Copa América Centenario and started the 2018 World Cup qualifiers strong. They were setback after a loss to Uruguay and finished eighth in the standings.
Gómez was reinstalled to lead Ecuador at the 2019 Copa América. His second stint was short, as he was soon fired after a disastrous tournament, having only earned a point.

Stadium

The Ecuadorian national team plays their home games at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito. Having opened in 1951, it initially had a capacity of 45,000, but was later reduced to 35,724.
The stadium has a running track, which has gone to be one of the most important in South America for events organized by the former International Association of Athletics Federations.
15 gates surround the stadium, allowing for an evacuation to be completed in about 10 minutes. The venue also features an electronic scoreboard located in the northern sector. The screen, manufactured by Hungarian-based company Elektroimpex in 1985, measures 10 meters tall and 30 meters wide.
In this stadium, Ecuador defeated Uruguay at the 1993 Copa América and Brazil at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. After tying with the former on 7 November 2001, Ecuador qualified for their first World Cup. Since then, Ecuador has sealed qualification to the tournament on three separate occasions.
The stadium is set to be demolished in late-2020 for a newer stadium in preparation for the 2024 Copa América. For the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Ecuador will play at the Casa Blanca.

Team image

The standard Ecuadorian uniform maintains the colors of the national flag, being typically a yellow top, blue shorts, and red socks. The alternate colors of the uniform are white and blue, this being based on the flag of the Guayas Province. From 1965 to 2020, the crest featured the Andean condor, Ecuador's national bird, above a shield with the country's colors. In January 2020, the Ecuadorian Football Federation announced a rebrand of the logo; a navy blue shield with an "FEF" monogram attempting to "abstractly build a condor".

Kit sponsor

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Copa América

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

Pan American Games

Results and fixtures

2019

2020

2021

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were called up for the friendly matches against Trinidad and Tobago and Colombia on 14 and 19 November 2019 respectively.

''Caps and goals updated as of 19 November 2019, after the match against Colombia.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up during the last twelve months.
INJ Withdrew from the squad due to injury.

PRE Preliminary squad / standby.

RET Retired from the national team.

Retired numbers

Following the death of Christian Benítez, the Ecuadorian Football Federation retired his jersey number 11 from the national team. According to the Federation's then-president, Luis Chiriboga, to honor Benítez the number would no longer be used by any other team player. However, due to FIFA regulations the number had to be reinstated for the 2014 World Cup squad.

Previous squads

;FIFA World Cup
;South American Championship / Copa América
Bold indicates player is still active with the national team.
Caps and goals updated as of 7 April 2020.

Most capped players

RankNameCareerCapsPos.
1Iván Hurtado1992–2014168DF
2Walter Ayoví2001–2017121MF
3Édison Méndez2000–2014111MF
4Álex Aguinaga1987–2004109MF
5Ulises de la Cruz1995–2010101DF
6Luis Capurro1985–2003100DF
7Antonio Valencia2005–99MF
8Giovanny Espinoza2000–200990DF
9José Francisco Cevallos1994–201089GK
10Segundo Castillo2003–201688MF

Top goalscorers

Rank.PlayerCareerGoalsCapsAvg/gamePos.
1Agustín Delgado1994–20063171FW
1Enner Valencia2012–3154FW
3Eduardo Hurtado1992–20022674FW
4Christian Benítez2005–20132458FW
5Álex Aguinaga1987–200423109MF
6Felipe Caicedo2005–20172268FW
7Édison Méndez2000–201418111MF
8Iván Kaviedes1996–20121757FW
9Raúl Avilés1987–19931655FW
10Ariel Graziani1997–20001534FW