Ecuador
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| Nickname(s) | La Tri (Tricolor) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Association | Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) |
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| Head coach |  Sixto Vizuete (since 2007) |
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| Captain | Iván Hurtado | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Iván Hurtado (156) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Agustín Delgado (31) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa Quito, Ecuador |
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| FIFA code | ECU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 24 (March 2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 76 (June 1995) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | T39 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 20 (October 1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 111 (December 1959) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First international | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Bolivia 1 - 1 Ecuador (Bogota, Colombia; 8 August 1938) (1938 Bolivarian Games) |
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| Biggest win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecuador 6 - 0 Peru  (Quito, Ecuador; 22 June 1975) (Friendly) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Argentina 12 - 0 Ecuador (Montevideo, Uruguay; 22 January 1942) (1942 South American Championship) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Round 2 (2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copa América | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 24 (First in 1939) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Fourth place (1959, 1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Ecuadorian national football team is controlled by the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol and represents Ecuador in international football competitions. It was for a long time one of the weaker teams in CONMEBOL, but it has recently had more success, making their first World Cup qualification in 2002, and qualifying again for the 2006 World Cup in which they made it to the last 16, losing to England by 1 goal.
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[edit] History
Although without any major tournament achievements until the current millennium, Ecuador was never short of footballing talent.
They first participated in qualifying in the 1962 campaign but were well beaten by Argentina over two games. However, the 1966 qualifying campaign pitted the side, regarded as one of the finest teams Ecuador has ever produced, against 1962 hosts and third-place finishers Chile and a weakened Colombia. Ecuador, featuring stars such as Washington Muñoz, Alberto Spencer, Carlos Raffo, Enrique Raymondi and Jorge Bolaños, forced a play-off in Peru before being eliminated by Chile.
Other talented players to have represented Ecuador include Jose Villafuerte in the 1970s and 1980s.
This remained the closest they had come to appearing in a finals until the qualification tournament for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan in which they finished second to Argentina, and one point ahead of Brazil who went on to win the World Cup. Agustin Delgado, with 9 goals, finished joint top scorer in qualifying with Hernán Crespo of Argentina. Álex Aguinaga, Iván Kaviedes, Iván Hurtado and Ulises de la Cruz were other stars of the Ecuadorian campaign, led by Colombian born manager Hernán Darío Bolillo Gómez. Although they were knocked out at the group stage, they achieved a 1-0 victory over Croatia, who had come third at the previous edition of the World Cup.
A disappointing showing at the 2004 Copa América in Peru led to the resignation of Gómez, who was replaced by another Colombian, Luis Fernando Suárez. He lead 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 La Tri qualification to the knockout stages for the first time.
Another disappointing showing at yet another Copa America in 2007 and three successive defeats in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign led to the end of Suarez time in the national team. He was replaced in 2008 for Sixto Vizuete, who became one of the few Ecuadorians to ever coach the national side.
Their best finish in Copa América was fourth in 1993 (they also finished fourth in the ‘extra’ South American Championship in 1959).
[edit] FIFA World Cup record
- 1930 to 1938 - Did not enter
- 1950 - Withdrew
- 1954 - Did not enter
- 1958 - Did not enter
- 1962 to 1998 - Did not qualify
- 2002 - First Round
- 2006 - Round of 16
| Year | Round | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  2002 |
Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
 2006 |
Round 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Total | 2/18 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 8 |
[edit] Korea - Japan 2002
Ecuador qualified for their first FIFA World Cup by finishing second in the CONMEBOL qualification tournament, finishing ahead of Brazil. Ecuador were drawn into Group G, alongside Mexico, Italy, and Croatia.
- 3 June 2002 Italy - Ecuador 2-0
- 8 June 2002 Ecuador - Mexico 1-2 (Delgado)
- 13 June 2002 Ecuador - Croatia 1-0 (Méndez)
[edit] Germany 2006
Ecuador qualified for their second FIFA World Cup by finishing third in the CONMEBOL qualification tournament. They were drawn into Group A, alongside hosts Germany, Poland, and Costa Rica.
Ecuador won 2-0 against Poland in their first game in Gelsenkirchen, with goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustín Delgado. They then beat Costa Rica 3-0 in Hamburg with goals coming from Carlos Tenorio, Agustín Delgado, and Iván Kaviedes. The win advanced them to the next round. Their qualification complete, they rested key players against the hosts Germany and were beaten 3-0. Ecuador finished second in Group A behind Germany and faced England in the second round. A second half free kick from David Beckham was the only goal of the game, which eliminated Ecuador from the World Cup. Ecuador went home with it´s head held up high, giving a great show and an overall outstanding performance.
- 9 June 2006 Poland 0 - 2 Ecuador (Tenorio, Delgado)
- 15 June 2006 Ecuador 3 - 0 Costa Rica (Delgado, Tenorio, Kaviedes)
- 20 June 2006 Ecuador 0 - 3 Germany
- 25 June 2006 England 1 - 0 Ecuador
[edit] List of goalscorers in World Cups
| Player | Goal(s) | Year(s) |
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| Agustín Delgado | 3 | 2002, 2006 |
| Carlos Tenorio | 2 | 2006 |
| Edison Méndez | 1 | 2002 |
| Iván Kaviedes | 1 | 2006 |
[edit] Copa América record
[edit] Pan American Games record
[edit] Current team status
Ecuador is currently participating in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup
Qualification Standings
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[edit] Recent results
| Category | Home Team | Result | Away Team | Date | Venue | Scorers |
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| World Cup qualifier |  Venezuela |
3-1 | Ecuador |
Oct 15, 2008 | Estadio Olímpico Luis Ramos, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela |
Ecuador: Mina 10′ Venezuela: Maldonado 48′; Moreno 56′; Arango 67′ |
| World Cup qualifier | Ecuador |
1-0 |  Chile |
Oct 12, 2008 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador |
Ecuador: Benitez 71′ |
| World Cup qualifier |  Uruguay |
0-0 | Ecuador |
Sep 10, 2008 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay |
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| World Cup qualifier | Ecuador |
3-1 | Bolivia |
Sep 6, 2008 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador |
Ecuador: Caicedo 21′; Méndez 51′ (pen); Benitez 72′ Bolivia: Botero 40′ |
| Friendly |  Colombia |
0-1 | Ecuador |
Aug 20, 2008 | Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey |
Ecuador: Benítez 38′ |
| World Cup qualifier | Ecuador |
0-0 | Colombia |
Jun 18, 2008 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador |
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| World Cup qualifier | Argentina |
1-1 | Ecuador |
Jun 15, 2008 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina |