The Tricolors of Ecuador will be making their fourth appearance at the World cup after missing out on the previous edition in Russia 2018. The South Americans escaped the fear of Peru after finishing in the top four of the final standings of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) World cup qualification.
The fact that Ecuador failed to win their last four World cup qualifiers did not deter them from earning an automatic spot in this year’s World following Peru’s inconsistencies as well. The qualification also makes Ecuador the eighth South American team to participate in the World Cup for the fourth time. They are however part of South American teams to have failed to ever make a quarter-final cut as far as the FIFA World cup is concerned Alongside Bolivia who last showed up in 1994.
The Tricolors made their debut World cup appearance in Korea/Japan 2002 where they, unfortunately, had to battle it out with inform teams like Mexico and Italy. Ecuador succumbed to back-to-back defeats to these nations but managed to snatch the maximum points from Croatia in the final round of group games. That win was however not enough to propel them to the next stage of the competition.
The little experience gathered in 2002 inspired Ecuador who worked their socks off to achieve their arguably biggest-ever feat in their football life as they progressed to the Round of 16 of the 2006 World cups in Germany. They won their first two matches against Poland and Costa Rica by 2-0 and 3-0 respectively before getting trashed by the host nation by 3-0. The 6 crucial points earned from the first couple of games enabled them to have an even tougher date with the three lions of England; a game which saw a 60th minute free kick from David Beckham, land in the net of Ecuador. That again was the end of the road for the promising South Americans until 2014.
In 2014, a few predictions would have tilted in Ecuador’s way due to the fact that the tournament was being staged in a continent they find themselves in. That notwithstanding, The Tris had to lose to Switzerland in their opening group game before going past Honduras with a 2-0 victory and eventually holding France to a scoreless draw.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Name: Enner Valencia
Age: 32
In the past years, former striker Agustín Delgado was the go-to man for the Ecuadorians in front of goal. Also, former Manchester United player, Antonio Valencia was a household name in the Ecuador senior national team. The latter captained the team at a point in time before vanishing from the scene. Coincidently, there is another Valencia who is now both the captain and the country’s current all-time top scorer.
Enner Valencia is also a former West Ham United player who currently plays as a forward for Turkish giants Fernabache.
Despite his exploits in front of goal, the 32-year-old has scored just one of all six goals of Ecuador in 2022.
Name: Moisés Caicedo
Age: 21
The Brighton and Hove Albion player burst unto the scenes in 2020 when he became the first ever player born in the 21st century to score in the qualification of the World cup (CONMEBOL). The then teenager broke the deadlock in a tie which saw Ecuador thumbing their Uruguayan counterparts by 4-2. The midfielder made 14 appearances on loan to Beerschot V.A. in the Belgian lower tier and has since then been instrumental in Brighton’s campaign this season. Moisés Caicedo was a consistent starter under Graham Potter and that has not changed since Roberto De Zerbi took over.
Head Coach: Gustavo Alfaro
Age: 60
Ecuador’s senior national team are the 13th side to be coached by the experienced gaffer. He won trophies with four of his previous teams including Supercopa Argentina in 2018 and Superliga Argentina in 2019–20 with Boca Juniors. Gustavo Quinteros is the only coach in the last five years seven years to have coached Ecuador for more than a year. (2015–2017). Thus, the fact that Alfaro has kept his job from 2020 to date is a testament of his good work and the trust Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) have in him.
GROUP STAGE FIXTURES
20 November 2022 Qatar v Ecuador Al Khor, Qatar
25 November 2022 Netherlands v Ecuador Al Rayyan, Qatar
29 November 2022 Ecuador v Senegal Al Rayyan, Qatar
Appearances so far: 3
Best Results: Round of 16 in 2006
Worst performance: Group stage (2002 and 20143)
Most capped player: Iván Hurtado with 168 appearances
Captain: Enner Valencia
Top scorer: Enner Valencia (35 goals in 74 appearances)