Ecuador national football team

History

Historically, Ecuador has been seen as a struggling footballing nation in South America. Despite their past failures, 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 a 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 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 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 the World Cup in East Asia.

Ecuador started the 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. Despite defeating Croatia, who had achieved third place in the previous tournament, and eliminating the Croats in process, Ecuador placed fourth in Group G and 24th overall.

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.

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.

For the qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as punishment for fielding the player Byron Castillo who had a passport with falsified information in the previous World Cup qualification cycle, Ecuador was deducted three points and fined CHF 100,000.

Home stadium

Main article: Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa

The Ecuador 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 qualified three times.

The stadium is set to be demolished in late-2020 for a newer stadium, which in first instance was for preparation for the 2024 Copa América. However, Ecuador declined to host Copa America in 2022.

For the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Ecuador played at the Casa Blanca.

Team image

The standard Ecuador uniform maintains the colours of the national flag, typically a yellow top, blue shorts, and red socks. The alternate colours 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 sponsorship

Results and fixtures

Main article: Ecuador national football team results (2020–present)

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

2025

• Valencia
• Cádiz
• Valencia
• Balogun
• Valencia
• Berterame
• Alcívar
• Angulo
• Campana

2026

Coaching staff

Coaching history

• CHI Enrique Lamas (1938)
• ECU Ramón Unamuno (1939)
• ARG Juan Parodi (1941–1942)
• ARG Rodolfo Orlandini (1945)
• ECU Ramón Unamuno (1947)
• ESP José Planas (1949)
• ARG Iván Esperón (1953)
• ECU José María Díaz (1955)
• ITA ARG Eduardo Spandre (1957)
• URU Juan López (1959–1960)
• ECU Fausto Montalván (1963, 1966)
• URU José María Rodríguez (1965)
• BRA José Gomes Nogueira (1969)
• ECU Ernesto Guerra (1970, 1977–1979, 1983)
• ECU Jorge Lazo (1972)
• ARG Roberto Resquín (1973)
• URU Roque Máspoli (1975–1977)
• ECU Héctor Morales (1979–1980)
• BRA Otto Vieira (1981)
• URU Juan Hohberg (1981–1982)
• BRA Antoninho Ferreira (1984–1985)
• URU Luis Grimaldi (1986–1987)
• YUG MNE Dušan Drašković (1988–1993)
• ECU Carlos Torres Garcés (1994)
• ECU Carlos Ron (1994)
• COL Francisco Maturana (1995–1997, 1997)
• COL Luis Fernando Suárez (1997, 2004–2007)
• ECU Polo Carrera (1998)
• ECU Carlos Sevilla (1999)
• COL Hernán Darío Gómez (1999–2004, 2018–2019)
• ECU Sixto Vizuete (2007–2010, 2014–2015)
• COL Reinaldo Rueda (2010–2014)
• ARG BOL Gustavo Quinteros (2015–2017)
• ARG Jorge Célico (2017–2018, 2019–2020)
• NED ESP Jordi Cruyff (2020)
• ARG Gustavo Alfaro (2020–2023)
• ESP Félix Sánchez (2023–2024)
• ARG Sebastián Beccacece (2024–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the friendly matches against Canada and New Zealand on 13 and 18 November 2025, respectively.

Caps and goals current as of 18 November 2025, after the match against New Zealand.

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.

WD Withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons.

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, taken by Felipe Caicedo.

Player records

|- |2 |122 |8

Top goalscorers

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Ecuador at the FIFA World Cup

Copa América

Main article: Ecuador at the 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 FIFA recognized teams.

Honours

Regional

• Bolivarian Games
  • ** Gold medal (1)**: 1965
  • Bronze medal (1): 1938

Friendly

• Korea Cup (1): 1995
• Canada Cup (1): 1999

Trophies

Ecuador has won the Panamerican Games 2006/2007 Trophy, Ecuador also won the 1999 Canada Cup Trophy, 1995 Korea Cup Trophy and Finally Ecuador achieved 1st place Gold Medal at the 1965 Bolivarian Games.

References

References

1. (15 June 2006). "Ecuador Breathes the Thick Air of Victory". The New York Times.
2. Raúl Chávez. (6 July 2007). "Falta de puntería silencia a seleccionados ecuatorianos".
3. (26 April 2013). "¿Cómo llegó el fútbol a Ecuador".
4. "Historia de La Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol".
5. "Ecuador en la Copa Mundo".
6. "Bolivarian Games: Soccer Tournaments".
7. (15 May 2002). "Otra primera vez, Ecuador venció a Brasil". El Universo.
8. (9 June 2002). "Tin Delgado, un goleador mundial...". El Universo.
9. (16 June 2016). "Ecuador cayó 2-1 ante Estados Unidos y se despidió de la Copa América 2016". El Universo.
10. infobae.com. (31 July 2019). "A menos de un año de su presentación, Hernán Darío Gómez dejó de ser el técnico de Ecuador".
11. (8 November 2022). "The CAS confirms the eligibility of the player Byron Castillo (Ecuador) but imposes sanctions against the Ecuadorian Football Federation for a violation of the FIFA regulations". Court of Arbitration for Sport.
12. AFA. (30 January 2017). "Conocé el Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa".
13. El Telégrafo. (8 October 2016). "El marcador del Atahualpa también celebra las victorias de Ecuador".
14. (14 June 2012). "Ecuador comenzó estudios para modernizar los estadios para 2023". El Universo.
15. (13 January 2020). "El estadio Olímpico Atahualpa será demolido a finales del 2020 y se levantará otro estadio con mayor capacidad".
16. (November 9, 2022). "Ya es oficial: Ecuador no será sede de la Copa América 2024".
17. "Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol, el portal de fútbol ecuatoriano".
18. "SportsLogos.Net - CONMEBOL Logos - CONMEBOL Logos - the News and History of Sports Logos and Uniforms".
19. underconsideration.com. (31 January 2020). "Flight of the Condor".
20. (8 November 2025). "¡Tenemos nuestros convocados para enfrentar a 🇨🇦 y 🇳🇿!".
21. (1 August 2013). "Número 11 de Ecuador Siempre Será de Chucho". ecuafutbol.org.
22. (6 March 2014). "Soccer-Ecuador to reinstate Benitez's number 11 for World Cup". reuters.com.
23. "Ecuador - International Appearances by Player".
24. "World Football Elo Ratings: Ecuador".