Ecuadorian national soccer team / World Championships

Ecuador
República del Ecuador

World Cup record goalscorer:	Agustín Delgado and Enner Valencia (3 each)
World Cup record players:	Edison Méndez (8)
Rank :	40
Balance sheet
10 World Cup games 4 wins 1 draw 5 losses 10:11 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Ecuador 0-2 Italy Sapporo ( JPN ); June 3, 2002
Biggest World Cup victory Ecuador 3-0 Costa Rica Hamburg ( GER ); June 15, 2006
Biggest World Cup defeat Ecuador 0: 3 Germany Berlin ( GER ); June 20, 2006
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 2002 )
Best results	Round of 16 2006
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 2018 )

This article contains a detailed description of the Ecuadorian national soccer team at world championships .

Overview

So far, Ecuador has only qualified for three World Cup finals.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	not participated
1954	Switzerland	not participated
1958	Sweden	not participated
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification of Argentina failed
1966	England	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to Chile and Colombia , which could not qualify either.
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification to Uruguay and again Chile failed, which could not qualify either.
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Uruguay and Colombia, which also could not qualify.
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of Peru failed and Chile, which also could not qualify.
1982	Spain	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to Chile and Paraguay , which could not qualify either.
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Uruguay and Chile, which also could not qualify.
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification of Colombia failed and Paraguay, which also could not qualify.
1994	United States	not qualified				In the qualification of Brazil and Bolivia failed.
1998	France	not qualified				In the South American qualification , which was held for the first time in the league system between the South American applicants - with the exception of Brazil, which was directly qualified as world champion - Ecuador only finished 6th. The first four could qualify.
2002	South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round	Italy Mexico Croatia	24.	Hernán Darío Gómez
2006	Germany	Round of 16	England	12.	Luis Fernando Suarez
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the South America qualification , Ecuador only finished 6th. The first four were able to qualify directly, Uruguay came fifth in the play-offs against Costa Rica .
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Switzerland Honduras France	17th	Reinaldo Rueda
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification , Ecuador finished only 8th place. Only the first four could qualify directly,

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• No participation: six times (29%; 1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954 and 1958)
• Unqualified: 12 times (57%; 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2010 and 2018)
• Athletic qualification: three times (14% or 20% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: twice (10%; 2002 and 2014)
  • Round of 16: once (5%; 2006)

The world championships from 1930 to 1958

The Ecuadorian Football Association was founded in 1925 and incorporated into FIFA in 1926 , but international matches did not begin until August 1938. There has never been a national team that could take part in the first three World Cup tournaments. The team was not registered for the three following world championships.

The 1962 World Cup in Chile

Ecuador wanted to qualify for the World Cup in Chile for the first time and had to play against Argentina in two games . In the first World Cup qualifier on December 4, 1960, they lost 3: 6 in Guayaquil , the second leg in Buenos Aires ended 0: 5.

The 1966 World Cup in England

For the World Cup in the "motherland of football" , Ecuador should qualify by playing against Colombia and Chile . On July 20, 1965, Ecuador succeeded in Barranquilla with a 1-0 victory over Colombia, the first victory in a World Cup qualifier and the second leg was won. But against Chile it was only enough to draw in two games. Since Chile had lost a game against Colombia, Chile and Ecuador were tied at the end. The Chileans' better goal difference did not count and so a playoff had to be contested on October 12, 1965 in Lima . The Chileans won this 2-1 and went to England.

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico

For the first World Cup in Central America , the Ecuadorians Uruguay and again Chile were drawn as the football World Cup 1970 / qualifying opponents. But Ecuador managed only one draw in four games at home against Chile and thus Ecuador was eliminated from the bottom of the group.

The 1974 World Cup in Germany

For the first World Cup in Germany , Ecuador had to play in a qualifying group with Uruguay and Colombia, lost the games against Uruguay and played a draw in the two games against Colombia, which meant they were eliminated from the bottom of the group.

The 1978 World Cup in Argentina

The qualification for the 1978 World Cup , which this time ran over two rounds, was not much better . But already in the first round Ecuador was eliminated by Chile and Peru and could only fight for a point at the beginning against Peru.

The 1982 World Cup in Spain

In qualifying for the 1982 World Cup , Ecuador failed against Chile, which took part in the finals, and could only fight for points in the home games against Paraguay (1-0) and Chile (0-0).

The 1986 World Cup in Mexico

Uruguay and Chile were the opponents in qualifying for the 1986 World Cup . Ecuador couldn't win a game and one point in the home game against Chile only brought the last place in the group.

The 1990 World Cup in Italy

The qualification for the second World Cup in Italy went a little better, because in the end Ecuador had three points, Colombia and Paraguay had more, so that only the last group place remained. With the 3-1 victory in the last game against Paraguay, Ecuador blocked the Paraguayans' way to the World Cup finals.

The 1994 World Cup in the United States

In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup , Ecuador finished in a group of five behind Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay, but ahead of Venezuela in fourth place and was again not qualified. But they only managed to win in the home game against Venezuela (5-0).

The 1998 World Cup in France

With the exception of world champions Brazil, all other CONMEBOL members played out four finalists in a group of nine. Ecuador only ended up in 6th place and therefore missed qualifying for the 1998 World Cup . In the away games, a point was only scored in three games. Ecuador did not remain unbeaten in the home games either, as they lost 1-0 to Colombia at home.

The 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea

This time, all ten CONMEBOL members competed against each other in the South America qualification . Ecuador surprisingly finished second behind Argentina, but with a gap of 12 points. Brazil and Paraguay, who also qualified, were only one point less than Ecuador. Uruguay also managed to qualify via the intercontinental playoffs as fifth in the group. Ecuador made it into the World Cup finals for the first time in the eleventh attempt ( Venezuela has been the only CONMEBOL team that has never qualified for a World Cup since then ).

In Japan, the Ecuadorians met ex-world champions Italy in their first World Cup match and lost 2-0. In the second game, Agustín Delgado scored the first World Cup goal for Ecuador in the fifth minute against Mexico . The more experienced Mexicans were able to turn the game around and win 2-1. In the last game, Edison Méndez scored their first World Cup victory against Croatia . Nevertheless, Ecuador was eliminated as the bottom of the group.

The 2006 World Cup in Germany

Scene before the decisive free kick in the round of 16

In the qualification for the 2006 World Cup , Ecuador took third place in the South America qualification, for which all CONMEBOL members competed against each other, this time behind the Argentines and Brazilians with the same points, six points behind Paraguay.

In Germany, the team met Poland in their first game and won 2-0. After the game against Costa Rica was won, this time 3-0, the team was already in the round of 16. In the game for the group victory against hosts Germany , Ecuador used several substitutes and lost 3-0. In the second round, ex-world champions England were the opponents and a free kick goal from David Beckham lost 1-0.

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa

On May 27, 2007, FIFA decided to ban official games in stadiums above 2,500 meters above sea level. In Ecuador, the stadiums in Quito and Latacunga were particularly affected. After violent protests, especially by the Bolivians, the altitude limit was changed to 3,000 meters in June 2007, so that all stadiums of the corresponding size in Ecuador could be used again.

Thus, Ecuador was able to play in the qualification for the first World Cup in Africa in Quito, but was unable to use this advantage in the first game: they lost 1-0 to Venezuela. The following two away games in Brazil and Paraguay were then clearly lost (0: 5 and 1: 5). After that the qualification went better and Ecuador lost only four of the remaining 15 games, but in the end it was only enough for sixth place because the last game was lost in Chile, which means that the intercontinental playoffs were missed.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil

Ecuador and Switzerland during the anthems

Fans from Ecuador and Honduras

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil then went better. Equally on points with Uruguay, Ecuador finished fourth and qualified directly. Uruguay, on the other hand, had to go through the intercontinental playoffs. However, the qualification was bumpy, because Ecuador could only win two games in a row, otherwise wins alternated with defeats or draws and only on the last day of the game was the direct qualification certain.

In Brazil, Ecuador met Switzerland in their first game and lost 2-1 after leading 1-0. The winning goal for the Swiss came in the third minute of stoppage time. In the second group game they managed a 2-1 win against Honduras , but a 0-0 win in the last group game against ex-world champions France missed the knockout stage. Enner Valencia scored all three goals .

The 2018 World Cup in Russia

In the qualification all 10 CONMEBOL members joined from October 2015 again in home and away matches against each other. The best four teams qualified directly, the fifth must play against a member of another confederation in playoff games. Ecuador started as the only team with four wins, u. a. the first away win at Vice World Champion Argentina. But only two of the following 14 games could be won, so that Ecuador had no chance to qualify before the last game. With a home win in their last game against Argentina, Ecuador could have blocked Argentina’s way to the World Cup, but lost 3-1. Since Chile lost in Brazil and Colombia played a draw against Peru, the Argentines moved up to third place. Only eighth place remained for Ecuador.

Ranking of the Ecuadorian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Edison Méndez - 8 out of 3 tournaments

02. Ulises de la Cruz and Antonio Valencia - 7 in 2 tournaments

04. Agustín Delgado , Jorge Guagua , Iván Hurtado , Iván Kaviedes , Carlos Tenorio and Edwin Tenorio - 6 in 2 tournaments

Ranking of the Ecuadorian World Cup players with the most goals

1. Agustín Delgado and Enner Valencia - 3 goals each

3. Carlos Tenorio - 2 goals

World Cup captains

• 2002: Álex Aguinaga (1st game), Iván Hurtado (2nd and 3rd game)
• 2006: Iván Hurtado (1st and 2nd game, round of 16), Marlon Ayoví (3rd game)
• 2014: Antonio Valencia

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Legionnaires did not play a major role in the Ecuadorian squad in the first two participations, but in 2014 they made up the majority.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
2002 (3)	3 (1 in England, 1 in Mexico, 1 in Scotland)	Agustin Delgado (3); Alex Aguinaga (3); Ulises de la Cruz (3)
2006 (4)	6 (1 in Argentina, 1 in England, 1 in Greece, 2 in Qatar, 1 in Spain)	Iván Kaviedes (4); Ulises de la Cruz (3); Felix Borja (1); Iván Hurtado (3), Carlos Tenorio (3); Antonio Valencia (4)
2014 (3)	15 (1 in Brazil, 1 in Germany, 1 in England, 1 in Colombia, 7 in Mexico, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Russia, 1 in the USA, 1 in the United Arab Emirates)	Frickson Erazo (3); Carlos Gruezo (2); Antonio Valencia (3); Edison Mendez (1); Michael Arroyo (2), Jaime Ayoví (0), Walter Ayoví (3), Fidel Martínez (0), Jefferson Montero (3), Joao Rojas (1), Enner Valencia (3); Renato Ibarra (1); Christian Noboa (3); Oswaldo Minda (2); Felipe Caicedo (3)

Players banned from World Championships

• 2002: Cléber Chalá received the second yellow card in the last group game against Croatia . Since Ecuador was eliminated, these had no effect.
• 2006: Ulises de la Cruz and Antonio Valencia received their second yellow card in the round of 16 against England. Since Ecuador was eliminated, these had no effect.
• 2014: Antonio Valencia received the red card in the last group game against France . With Ecuador eliminated, the following suspension applies to the first game at the 2015 Copa America .

Games

• Ecuador has played 10 World Cup games so far, four of which have been won, one has ended in a draw and five have been lost.
• Ecuador never played in the opening game of the World Cup, but once against the hosts: 2006 / Germany .
• Ecuador never played against the defending champions and never against the eventual world champions.
• So far, all World Cup matches between the Ecuadorians are unique.
• Ecuador always met two European and one Central American teams in the group stage and never played against African, Asian, Oceanic and South American teams.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1.	0June 3, 2002	0: 2 (0: 2)	Italy	*	Sapporo ( JPN )	Group game	First international match against Italy
2.	0June 9, 2002	1: 2 (1: 1)	Mexico	*	Rifu ( JPN )	Group game
3.	June 13, 2002	1: 0 (0: 0)	Croatia	*	Yokohama ( JPN )	Group game	First international match against Croatia
4th	0June 9, 2006	2: 0 (1: 0)	Poland	*	Gelsenkirchen ( GER )	Group game
5.	June 15, 2006	3: 0 (1: 0)	Costa Rica	*	Hamburg ( GER )	Group game
6th	June 20, 2006	0: 3 (0: 2)	Germany	A.	Berlin ( GER )	Group game	First international match against Germany
7th	June 25, 2006	0: 1 (0: 0)	England	*	Stuttgart ( GER )	Round of 16
8th.	15th June 2014	1: 2 (1: 0)	Switzerland	*	Brasília ( BRA )	Group game	First international match against Switzerland
9.	20th June 2014	2: 1 (1: 1)	Honduras	*	Curitiba ( BRA )	Group game
10.	June 25, 2014	0-0	France	*	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Group game

Highest victories and defeats

The Ecuadorian team achieved their highest victories against the following teams in World Cup tournaments:

•  Croatia : Preliminary round 2002 - 1-0 (only game against Croatia)
•  Poland : Preliminary round 2006 - 2-0 (only win against Poland)

The Ecuadorian team suffered their biggest defeats against the following teams at World Cup tournaments:

•  Germany : preliminary round 2006 - 0-3
•  Italy : 2002 preliminary round - 2-0 (only loss to Italy)
•  Switzerland : preliminary round 2014 - 1: 2 (only game defeat against Switzerland)

See also

Ecuadorian Women's National Football Team / World Championships

Web links

• Football World Cups - Statistics - Ecuador on fifa.com

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ fifa.com: "In the light of the 57th FIFA Congress"
3. ↑ bbc.co: "Fifa relents on altitude ruling"
4. ↑ In their match report for the first game, FIFA names Aguinaga as captain, in rsssf.com statistics Hurtado is named as captain in all 3 games.
5. ↑ fifa.com: "Decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on World Cup cases"
6. ↑ rsssf.com: WM 2002 (English)
7. ↑ rsssf.com: WM 2006 (English)