The Ecuador national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Ecuador) represents

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

in men's international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and is controlled by the

Ecuadorian Football Federation The Ecuadorian Football Federation ( es, Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol or ) is the governing body of football in Ecuador. Its headquarters are in Quito, and it organizes the country's various football competitions and oversees the Ecuador ...

(FEF). They joined

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

in 1926 and

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

a year later. Discarding an invitation to participate in the inaugural FIFA World Cup held in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, Ecuador did not make their tournament debut until

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. After finishing above

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

in the standings, the qualifying campaign marked the emergence of several players, such as

Agustín Delgado Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá (born 23 December 1974) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''Tín'', he was the all-time top scorer for the Ecuador national team with 31 goals in 71 games befor ...

Álex Aguinaga Álex Dario Aguinaga Garzón (, born 9 July 1969) is an Ecuadorian former professional football player and manager. A midfielder during his playing career, he is one of the all-time cap leaders for Ecuador with 109 matches, scoring 23 goals. Ag ...

Iván Hurtado Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo (born 16 August 1974) is an Ecuadorian politician and former professional footballer who played as a centre back. With 168 international appearances for Ecuador between 1992 and 2014, he was the most capped South A ...

Ulises de la Cruz Ulises Hernán de la Cruz Bernardo (born 8 February 1974 in Piquiucho, Carchi) is a retired Ecuadorian footballer, who since 2013 has been a member of his country's National Assembly for the governing PAIS Alliance. A defender, he played 10 ...

and

Iván Kaviedes Jaime Iván Kaviedes Llorenty (born 24 October 1977) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Kaviedes rose to fame after scoring 43 goals in one season for Emelec in the 1998 Ecuadorian league. Thi ...

, 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 Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, they have not won the continental tournament. ''La Tri''s best performance was fourth in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and 1993, both times on home soil. Ecuador plays the majority of their home matches at the

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa () is a multi-purpose stadium in Quito, Ecuador. It is currently used primarily for association football, football matches and has a capacity of 35,724. Overview Built in 1951, it sits at the intersection of the Aveni ...

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

. It was set to be demolished in late 2020 to make way for a new, more modern venue.

History

From a historical viewpoint, Ecuador have been seen as a struggling footballing nation 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 , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. 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,

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 , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. Their following game saw the national team earn a 2–1 win against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Following a 9–1 crushing by

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and a 5–2 victory over

, 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. Ecuador v uruguay 1942

After finishing fourth at the 1959 South American Championship, the team entered the

World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

for the first time. They failed to qualify for 1962 finals after inflicted defeats by

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The 1998 World Cup qualifiers saw the format for qualifying in

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 6th-place finish, just under

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Following the appointment of

Hernán Darío Gómez Hernán Darío Gómez Jaramillo (; born 3 February 1956), also known as El Bolillo (; ''The Baton''), is a Colombian former football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Career He was an active player from 1966 to 1 ...

for their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, Ecuador recorded a historic 1–0 win against

. A 5–1 win over Bolivia saw ''la Tricolor'' only needing a point to qualify for the World Cup. They faced

, and, after managing to cling onto a 1–1 draw, obtained their spot in the World Cup in Japan. Ecuador started the 2002 World Cup with a 2–0 loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

scored his country's first World Cup goal; he opened the scoring in a 2–1 loss to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Though they finished fourth in Group G and 24th overall, Ecuador defeated

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, who had achieved third place in the previous tournament, and eliminated the Croats in process. A disappointing showing at the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in P ...

led to the resignation of Gómez, who was replaced by

Luis Fernando Suárez Luis Fernando Suárez Guzmán (born 23 December 1959) is a Colombian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the current manager of the Costa Rica national football team. Suárez has managed in six Latin American c ...

. 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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. Wins over Poland and Costa Rica earned Ecuador qualification to the knockout stages for the first time. Switzerland and Ecuador match 2014-06-15 Vanishing foam

Switzerland and Ecuador match 2014-06-15 Vanishing foam

After a dull

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, and an unpleasant streak of failing to advance past the group stages of the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

Gustavo Quinteros Gustavo Domingo Quinteros Desabato (born 15 February 1965) is a football manager and former professional player who played as a defender. He is the current manager of Chilean club Colo-Colo. Born in Argentina, he played for the Bolivia nat ...

was hired to help rebuild the national team. Quinteros helped Ecuador reach the quarter-finals of the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

and started the 2018 World Cup qualifiers strong. They were setback after a loss to

and finished eighth in the standings. Gómez was reinstalled to lead Ecuador at the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 ...

. His second stint was short, as he was soon fired after a disastrous tournament, having only earned a point.

Home stadium

MIRANDO A QUITO DESDE LAS ALTURAS (37628605982)

The Ecuador national team plays their home games at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in

. 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 An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

, which has gone to be one of the most important in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

for events organized by the former

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. 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

at the

1993 Copa América The 1993 Copa América was the 36th Copa América, CONMEBOL's football tournament for national teams. It was held in Ecuador between 15 June and 4 July. All 10 CONMEBOL members took part, but for the first time two nations from outside CONMEBOL w ...

and

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 qualified three times. The stadium is set to be demolished in late-2020 for a newer stadium in preparation for the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América will be the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. Argentina are the defending champions. Host country ...

. For the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Ecuador will play at the '' Casa Blanca.''

Team image

The standard Ecuador uniform maintains the

colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

of the

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...

, typically a yellow top, blue shorts, and red socks. The alternate

of the uniform are white and blue, this being based on the flag of the

Guayas Province Guayas () is a coastal Provinces of Ecuador, province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí Province, Manabí, Santa Elena Province, Ecuador, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos Pr ...

. From 1965 to 2020, the crest featured the

Andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

, Ecuador's national bird, above a shield with the country's colors. In January 2020, the

announced a rebrand of the logo; a navy blue shield with an "FEF" monogram attempting to "abstractly build a condor".

Kit sponsorship

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2022

Coaching staff

Coaching history

* Enrique Lamas (1938) * Ramón Unamuno (1939) * Juan Parodi (1941–1942) *

Rodolfo Orlandini Rodolfo Orlando Orlandini (1 January 1905 – 24 December 1990) was an Argentine football (soccer) midfielder who played for the Argentina national team between 1927 and 1930. Club career Orlandini played club football in Argentina for Sp ...

(1945) * Ramón Unamuno (1947) * José Planas Artés (1949) * Iván Esperón (1953) *

José María Díaz José María Díaz (1813–1888) was a Spanish journalist and playwright whose work is linked to Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement ...

(1955) * Eduardo Spandre (1957) * Juan López (1959–1960) * Fausto Montalván (1963, 1966) * José María Rodríguez (1965) *

José Gomes Nogueira José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

(1969) *

Ernesto Guerra Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

(1970, 1977–1979, 1983) * Jorge Lazo (1972) * Roberto Resquín (1973) *

Roque Máspoli Roque Gastón Máspoli Arbelvide (12 October 1917 in Montevideo – 22 February 2004 in Montevideo) was a Uruguayan football player and coach. He was the goalkeeper for the Uruguay national team that won the 1950 World Cup. He was also the h ...

(1975–1977) * Héctor Morales (1979–1980) * Otto Vieira (1981) *

Juan Hohberg Juan Eduardo Hohberg (8 October 1926 – 30 April 1996) was an Argentine-born Uruguayan football player and coach. He is best remembered as a player for Peñarol (1949-59) where he won 6 Uruguayan Primera División title wins (1949, 1951, 1953, 1 ...

(1981–1982) * Antonio Ferreira (1984–1985) * Luis Grimaldi (1986–1987) *

Dušan Drašković Dušan Drašković (born 20 June 1939) is a Montenegrin former football manager and player. He is considered one of the pioneers of modern football in Ecuador. Playing career During his playing career, Drašković played for Spartak Subotica, ...

(1988–1993) * Carlos Torres Garcés (1994) * Carlos Ron (1994) *

Francisco Maturana Francisco Antonio Maturana García, also known as ''Pacho'' Maturana (born February 15, 1949) is a Colombian ex-football player and football manager. Under his management, Atletico Nacional was the first team of the nation to win the Copa Liber ...

(1995–1997, 1997) *

(1997, 2004–2007) *

Polo Carrera Paúl Fernando Carrera Velasteguí, known better as Polo Carrera (born January 11, 1945 in Quito), is an Ecuadorian retired football player and former manager. He has played for clubs in Ecuador and Uruguay, as well as the Ecuador football team ...

(1998) *

Carlos Sevilla Carlos Edmundo Sevilla Dalgo (born 26 August 1950) in an Ecuadorian former association football, football player and manager of Club Deportivo El Nacional, El Nacional. Playing career Club Sevilla had a brief playing career as a defender mainly ...

(1999) *

(1999–2004, 2018–2019) *

Sixto Vizuete Sixto Rafael Vizuete Toapanta (born January 13, 1961) is the Ecuadorian football manager. Early career He played for Deportivo Cotopaxi which at that time was promoted to the first division in Ecuador. After his footballing career, he attended ...

(2007–2010, 2014–2015) *

Reinaldo Rueda Reinaldo Rueda Rivera (born 16 April 1957) is a Colombian Association football, football coach. When he was the coach of the Colombia national under-20 football team, Colombia U-20 team, they finished 3rd at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championsh ...

(2010–2014) *

(2015–2017) *

Jorge Célico Jorge César Fortunato Célico (born 13 September 1964) is an Argentine retired football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Career A Huracán youth player, Buenos Aires-born Célico was promoted to the first team in 1982, ap ...

(2017–2018, 2019–2020) *

Jordi Cruyff Johan Jordi Cruijff (anglicised to Cruyff; born 9 February 1974) is a football coach and former player. He is the son of former player and manager Johan Cruyff. As a footballer, Cruyff played from 1992 through to 2010, including periods with ...

(2020) * Gustavo Alfaro (2020–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. ''Caps and goals correct as of 29 November 2022, after the match against .''

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.
^SUS Withdrew from the squad due to suspension.

Retired numbers

Following the death of

Christian Benítez Christian Rogelio Benítez Betancourt (1 May 1986 – 29 July 2013), also known as Chucho, was an Ecuadorian professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career with El Nacional in Ecuador and then joined Santos Laguna, with ...

, the

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.

Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Ecuador.''

Most appearances

Most goals

HABILIDADES Y DESTREZAS DE JÓVENES FIGURAS (19057791769)

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Copa América

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

Pan American Games

Head-to-head record

Below is a result summary of all matches Ecuador have played against

recognized teams.

Honours

Despite never having won a title with their senior team, Ecuador has two relevant achievements with their youth teams.

Senior team

Friendlies

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world ...

: ** Winners:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

References

External links

Official website

futbolecuador.com

Ecuador FIFA profile
{{Navboxes, , title= Ecuador at the FIFA World Cup, list1= {{2002 FIFA World Cup finalists {{2006 FIFA World Cup finalists {{2014 FIFA World Cup finalists South American national association football teams