Ecuador national football team

Ecuador

Nickname(s)	La Tri (Tri-color)
Association	Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol (FEF)
Confederation	CONMEBOL (South America)
Head coach	Reinaldo Rueda
Captain	Walter Ayovi
Most caps	Iván Hurtado (167)
Top scorer	Agustín Delgado (31)
Home stadium	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito
FIFA code	ECU
FIFA ranking	10
Highest FIFA ranking	10 (April 2013)
Lowest FIFA ranking	76 (June 1995)
Elo ranking	13
Highest Elo ranking	11 (27 March 2013)
Lowest Elo ranking	111 (December 1959)
Principal colours Alternate colours
First international
Bolivia 1–1 Ecuador (Bogotá, Colombia; August 8, 1938)
Biggest win
Ecuador 6–0 Peru (Quito, Ecuador; June 22, 1975)
Biggest defeat
Argentina 12–0 Ecuador (Montevideo, Uruguay; January 22, 1942)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 2002)
Best result	Round of 16 (2006)
Copa América
Appearances	24 (First in 1939)
Best result	Fourth place (1959, 1993)
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2002)
Best result	Group Stage (2002)

The Ecuadorian national football team represents Ecuador in international football competitions and is controlled by the Ecuadorian Football Federation. They play official home matches at Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito.

Ecuador has qualified for two FIFA World Cups in 2002 and 2006. Their best performance came in 2006 when they advanced to the Round of 16, eventually eliminated by England. They are one of three countries in South America to not win the Copa América (the others being Chile and Venezuela). Their best performance in the continental tournament was fourth in 1959 and 1993, both times on home soil.

History

From a historical viewpoint, Ecuador have been one of the more struggling footballing nations in South America. Despite their past irregularities, however, they have never lacked quality.

Discarding an invitation to participate in the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay, their first participation in a World Cup qualifying campaign was in the 1962 campaign, eventually being 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 side. Ecuador, featuring stars such as Washington Muñoz, Alberto Spencer, Carlos Alberto 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 José Villafuerte in the 1970s and 1980s.

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. At the end, they achieved a very respectable 6th place finish, just under Peru and Chile (which qualified by goal differential). The campaign also marked the emergence of several players, such as Agustín Delgado, Álex Aguinaga, Iván Hurtado, Ulises de la Cruz and Iván Kaviedes, who would set the stage for Ecuador's achievements in the next decade.

This remained the closest they had come to appearing in a finals until the qualification tournament for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Led by Colombian born manager Hernán Darío Gómez, they finished second to Argentina, and one point ahead of Brazil who went on to win the World Cup. Agustín Delgado, with 9 goals, finished joint top scorer in qualifying with Hernán Crespo of Argentina. They were drawn in Group G with Italy, Mexico and Croatia. 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 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 La Tri qualification to the knockout stages for the first time.

Another disappointing showing at yet another Copa América in 2007 and three successive defeats in the beginning of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign led to the end of Suarez's time in the national team. He was replaced in 2008 for Sixto Vizuete, who had previously gained recognition for winning the 2007 Pan American Games with the U-18s. Vizuete became one of the few Ecuadorians to coach the U-23 national team, and senior team, but Ecuador finished the qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in 6th place, sadly being eliminated from the finals for the first time since 1998.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup record

Main article: Ecuador at the FIFA World Cup

Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1938	Did not enter
1950	Withdrew
1954 to 1958	Did not enter
1962 to 1998	Did not qualify
2002	Group Stage	24	3	1	0	2	2	4
2006	Round of 16	12	4	2	0	2	5	4
2010	Did not qualify
Total	2/19	12	7	3	0	4	7	8

Copa América record

• 1916 to 1937 – Did not enter
• 1939 – Fifth place
• 1941 – Fifth place
• 1942 – Seventh place
• 1945 – Seventh place
• 1946 – Withdrew
• 1947 – Sixth place
• 1949 – Seventh place
• 1953 – Sixth place
• 1955 – Seventh place
• 1956 – Withdrew
• 1957 – Seventh place
• 1959 – Withdrew
• 1959 – Fourth place
• 1963 – Sixth place

• 1967 – Did not qualify
• 1975 – Round 1
• 1979 – Round 1
• 1983 – Round 1
• 1987 – Round 1
• 1989 – Round 1
• 1991 – Round 1
• 1993 – Fourth place
• 1995 – Round 1
• 1997 – Quarterfinals
• 1999 – Round 1
• 2001 – Round 1
• 2004 – Round 1
• 2007 – Round 1
• 2011 – Round 1

Pan American Games record

• 1951 to 1991 – Did not compete
• 1995 – Round 1
• 1999 to 2003 – Did not compete
• 2007 – Champion

Minor tournaments

• 1995 Korean Cup – Winner
• 1999 Canada Cup – Winner

Current team status

Ecuador is currently participating in the FIFA world Cup 2014 qualifiers to Brazil 2014, in the Conmebol region.

2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification Standings

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Argentina 13 7 5 1 25 9 +16 26 Colombia 12 7 2 3 21 7 +14 23 Ecuador 12 6 3 3 17 12 +5 21 Chile 13 7 0 6 21 21 0 21 Uruguay 12 4 4 4 18 21 −3 16 Venezuela 13 4 4 5 10 14 −4 16 Peru 12 4 2 6 12 17 −5 14 Bolivia 13 2 4 7 15 24 −9 10 Paraguay 12 2 2 8 9 23 −14 8   Argentina — 1–1 4–1 0–0 4–0 3–1 11 Oct 3–0 3–0 Bolivia 1–1 — 0–2 1–2 10 Sep 3–1 1–1 4–1 1–1 Chile 1–2 3–1 — 1–3 15 Oct 2–0 4–2 2–0 6 Sep Colombia 1–2 5–0 11 Oct — 6 Sep 2–0 2–0 4–0 1–1 Ecuador 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 — 4–1 2–0 11 Oct 2–0 Paraguay 10 Sep 6 Sep 1–2 15 Oct 2–1 — 1–0 1–1 0–2 Peru 1–1 15 Oct 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 — 6 Sep 2–1 Uruguay 15 Oct 4–2 4–0 10 Sep 1–1 1–1 4–2 — 1–1 Venezuela 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 11 Oct 10 Sep 0–1 —

Recent results

• Last game: Ecuador 1-1 Argentina (Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador — June 11, 2013)
• Next game: Ecuador Vs. Spain (Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha, Guayaquil, Ecuador — August 14, 2013)

Players

Current squad

The following players were named for the Friendly match against Germany on May 29, and the 2014 World Cup qualification matches against Peru on June 7 and Argentina on June 11, 2013.

Caps and goals updated as of June 11, 2013 after match against Argentina.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club 1GK Máximo Banguera (1985-12-16) December 16, 1985 19 0 Barcelona 1GK Alexander Domínguez (1987-06-05) June 5, 1987 13 0 LDU Quito 1GK Alexis Lemos (1989-12-15) December 15, 1989 0 0 Deportivo Quito 2DF Walter Ayoví (Captain) (1979-08-11) August 11, 1979 82 8 Pachuca 2DF Jorge Guagua (1981-09-28) September 28, 1981 47 2 Deportivo Quito 2DF Frickson Erazo (1988-05-05) May 5, 1988 29 1 Barcelona 2DF Juan Carlos Paredes (1987-07-08) July 8, 1987 26 0 Barcelona 2DF Óscar Bagüí (1982-12-10) December 10, 1982 18 0 Emelec 2DF Gabriel Achilier (1985-03-24) March 24, 1985 15 0 Emelec 2DF Elvis Bone (1983-04-07) April 7, 1983 1 0 El Nacional 3MF Segundo Castillo (1982-05-15) May 15, 1982 71 8 Puebla 3MF Antonio Valencia (1985-08-04) August 4, 1985 63 8 Manchester United 3MF Luis Saritama (1983-10-20) October 20, 1983 42 0 LDU Quito 3MF Christian Noboa (1985-04-09) April 9, 1985 32 2 Dynamo Moscow 3MF Jefferson Montero (1989-09-01) September 1, 1989 30 6 Morelia 3MF Renato Ibarra (1991-01-20) January 20, 1991 9 0 Vitesse 3MF Pedro Quiñónez (1986-03-04) March 4, 1986 8 0 Emelec 3MF Alex Colón (1986-11-17) November 17, 1986 0 0 Deportivo Quito 4FW Christian Benítez (1986-05-01) May 1, 1986 60 24 América 4FW Felipe Caicedo (1988-09-05) September 5, 1988 41 13 Lokomotiv Moscow 4FW Joao Rojas (1989-06-14) June 14, 1989 20 2 Cruz Azul 4FW Marlon de Jesús (1991-09-04) September 4, 1991 5 0 Emelec 4FW Juan Luis Anangonó (1989-04-13) April 13, 1989 2 0 Argentinos Juniors Recent call-ups The following players have been called-up during the last twelve months. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Adrián Bone (1988-09-08) September 8, 1988 2 0 El Nacional v. Germany; May 29, 2013 GK Darwin Cuero (1994-10-15) October 15, 1994 0 0 El Nacional v. Paraguay; March 26, 2013 GK Robinson Sánchez (1978-03-25) March 25, 1978 0 0 Olmedo v. Uruguay; September 11, 2012 DF Eduardo Morante (1987-06-01) June 1, 1987 5 0 LDU Quito v. Paraguay; March 26, 2013 DF Jairo Campos (1984-07-18) July 18, 1984 15 0 Barcelona v. Venezuela; October 16, 2012 DF Diego Calderón (1986-10-26) October 26, 1986 5 0 Colorado Rapids v. Venezuela; October 16, 2012 DF José Madrid (1988-04-21) April 21, 1988 1 0 LDU Quito v. Venezuela; October 16, 2012 MF Henry León (1983-04-30) April 30, 1983 1 0 Independiente José Terán v. Paraguay; March 26, 2013 MF Marcos Caicedo (1991-11-10) November 10, 1991 0 0 Emelec v. Paraguay; March 26, 2013 MF Oswaldo Minda (1983-07-26) July 26, 1983 17 0 Chivas USA v. Venezuela; October 16, 2012 MF Michael Quiñónez (1984-06-21) June 21, 1984 5 1 Barcelona v. Uruguay; September 11, 2012 MF Dennys Quiñónez (1992-03-12) March 12, 1992 3 0 El Nacional v. Uruguay; September 11, 2012 FW Cristian Suárez (1985-11-02) November 2, 1985 10 3 Pachuca v. Paraguay; March 26, 2013 FW Jaime Ayoví (1988-02-21) February 21, 1988 24 8 Al-Nassr v. Portugal; February 6, 2013 FW Michael Arroyo (1987-04-23) April 23, 1987 19 2 Barcelona v. Venezuela; October 16, 2012 FW Narciso Mina (1982-11-25) November 25, 1982 11 1 America v. Venezuela; October 16, 2012 Player records Most caps Pos Player Career Caps 1 Iván Hurtado 1992–2010 167 2 Álex Aguinaga 1987–2004 109 3 Édison Méndez 2000–2012 105 4 Ulises de la Cruz 1995–2010 102 5 Luis Capurro 1985–2003 100 6 Giovanny Espinoza 2000–2012 90 7 José Francisco Cevallos 1994–2010 89 8 Cléber Chalá 1992–2004 86 9 Walter Ayoví 2001– 82 10 Edwin Tenorio 1998–2007 78 Top goalscorers Pos Player Career Goals 1 Agustín Delgado 1994–2006 31 2 Eduardo Hurtado 1992–2000 26 3 Christian Benitez 2005– 24 4 Álex Aguinaga 1987–2004 23 5 Iván Kaviedes 1998–2013 17 Édison Méndez 2000– 17 7 Raúl Avilés 1987–2003 16 8 Ariel Graziani 1997–2000 15 9 Felipe Caicedo 2005– 13 10 Ángel Fernández 1991–2002 12 Carlos Tenorio 2001–2012 12 Previous squads Copa América 1991 Copa América squad 1993 Copa América squad 1995 Copa América squad 1997 Copa América squad 1999 Copa América squad 2001 Copa América squad 2004 Copa América squad 2007 Copa América squad 2011 Copa América squad FIFA World Cup 2002 FIFA World Cup squad 2006 FIFA World Cup squad Notable players The following players have played at least 50 games, or have scored at least 10 goals for the national team. Álex Aguinaga (1987–2003) Raúl Avilés (1987–1993) Marlon Ayoví (1998–2007) Walter Ayoví (2001– ) Christian Benítez (2005– ) Luis Capurro (1985–2003) Héctor Carabalí (1992–1999) Segundo Castillo (2003– ) José Francisco Cevallos (1994–2010) Cléber Chalá (1992–2004) Ulises de la Cruz (1995– ) Agustín Delgado (1994–2006) Giovanny Espinoza (2000– ) Ángel Fernández (1991–2004) Ariel Graziani (1997–2000) Eduardo Hurtado (1992–2000) Iván Hurtado (1992–2010) Iván Kaviedes (1998–2007) Édison Méndez (2000– ) Alberto Montaño (1992–2000) Alfonso Obregón (1995–2004) Hólger Quiñónez (1984–1999) Carlos Alberto Raffo (1959–1963) Néicer Reasco (1998– ) Carlos Tenorio (2001–2012) Edwin Tenorio (1998–2007) Antonio Valencia (2005– ) Managers Manager Career GP W D L Enrique Lamas August 8, 1938 – August 22, 1938 5 1 1 3 Ramón Unamuno January 15, 1939 – February 12, 1939 4 0 0 4 Juan Parodi February 2, 1941 – February 5, 1942 10 0 0 10 Rodolfo Orlandini January 14, 1945 – February 21, 1945 6 0 1 5 Ramón Unamuno November 30, 1947 – December 29, 1947 7 0 3 4 José Planas April 3, 1949 – May 3, 1949 7 1 0 6 Gregorio Esperón February 28, 1953 – March 23, 1953 6 0 2 4 José María Díaz Granados February 27, 1955 – March 23, 1955 5 0 0 5 Eduardo Spandre March 7, 1957 – April 1, 1957 6 0 1 5 Juan López December 6, 1959 – December 17, 1960 7 1 1 5 Fausto Montalván March 10, 1963 – March 31, 1963 6 1 2 3 José María Rodríguez July 20, 1965 – October 12, 1965 5 2 1 2 Fausto Montalván December 21, 1966 – December 28, 1966 2 0 1 1 José Gomes Nogueira June 22, 1969 – August 3, 1969 5 1 1 3 Ernesto Guerra April 29, 1970 – May 24, 1970 2 0 0 2 Jorge Lazo June 11, 1972 – June 21, 1972 4 0 1 3 Roberto Resquín February 18, 1973 – July 8, 1973 10 1 6 3 Roque Máspoli June 22, 1975 – March 20, 1977 19 5 4 10 Héctor Morales June 13, 1979 – September 16, 1979 8 3 1 4 Otto Vieira January 27, 1981 – February 14, 1981 2 0 0 2 Juan Eduardo Hohberg May 17, 1981 – June 14, 1981 4 1 1 2 Ernesto Guerra July 26, 1983 – September 7, 1983 6 0 4 2 Antoninho Ferreira November 30, 1984 – March 31, 1985 15 3 5 7 Luis Grimaldi November 18, 1986 – July 4, 1987 13 2 5 6 Dušan Drašković June 2, 1988 – September 19, 1993 56 17 17 22 Carlos Torres Garcés May 25, 1994 – June 5, 1994 2 2 0 0 Carlos Ron August 17, 1994 – September 21, 1994 2 0 1 1 Francisco Maturana May 24, 1995 – June 8, 1997 34 16 6 12 Luis Fernando Suárez June 11, 1997 – June 22, 1997 4 2 2 0 Francisco Maturana July 6, 1997 – November 16, 1997 7 3 1 3 Polo Carrera October 14, 1998 1 0 0 1 Carlos Sevilla January 28, 1999 – July 7, 1999 15 3 6 6 Hernán Darío Gómez October 12, 1999 – July 23, 2004 66 24 18 24 Luis Fernando Suárez September 4, 2004 – November 17, 2007 51 17 9 25 Sixto Vizuete November 21, 2007 – July 11, 2010 25 9 7 9 Reinaldo Rueda September 4, 2010–present 36 16 11 9 Notes and references See also Ecuador women's national football team Ecuador national under-20 football team External links Official website of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (Spanish) futbolecuador.com (Spanish)