Last September, in the sweltering night heat of Guayaquil, Ecuador finished off their Conmebol World Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 victory over table-leaders and defending champions Argentina. Enner Valencia, the 35-year-old journeyman and the nation’s all-time scorer, sealed the win with a penalty in his 100th appearance. The Estadio Monumental roared with ecstasy and emotion.
Both sides had already sealed qualification for 2026 and the visitors were playing without Lionel Messi, who had also said goodbye to qualifiers after his final game in Buenos Aires a few days prior. But none of these narratives mattered to Ecuadorian fans. They were acknowledging a magnificent campaign as The Tricolor ended second in the table, their best-ever finish since Conmebol qualifiers moved to a single table. And this despite starting the campaign with a three-point penalty due to the use of documents with false information to register Byron Castillo in the previous cycle.
It was a campaign of total resiliency; Ecuador have also not lost a game since 6 September 2024, a tight 1-0 loss away at Brazil. In that timeframe, they have also only conceded one goal, with just five conceded over the whole of qualifying.
Ecuador’s trajectory may be surprising to some, but it’s really a natural extension of the growth of the domestic game, an increase of players playing their trade in Europe, and a youth system that continues to produce stars. This is a national team that could make a run in next summer’s World Cup. Now, as they prepare for two friendlies against two hosts – the United States and Mexico – the aim and message from Ecuador’s standpoint is simple: keep going.
“The challenge is to play these friendlies with the same level of intensity as official matches,” said head coach Sebastián Beccacece last week. “Both the US and México are very strong national teams and we want to beat them.”
Beccacece, and Argentinian, became Ecuador’s head coach in August of 2024, replacing Félix Sánchez after losing to Argentina in Copa América quarter-final. At 44, he’s a fairly young manager, and has never been an international one. He has no history as a professional player either. In Ecuador, he took one one of the most coveted jobs in South American soccer, with a talented and hungry squad featuring Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo and PSG center back Willian Pacho.
Yet despite this supposed mismatch, Beccacece has instilled defensive discipline into a team that are now masters of the counterattack thanks to an abundance of poise and pace. Under Beccacece, the low block is their friend, especially when protecting a lead and to them, defense – like the saying goes – really does win championships. Due to this philosophy, there are some corners of Ecuador’s media that criticize the lack of offensive creativity. Out of the South American teams who qualified for the World Cup, Ecuador were the joint lowest scorers alongside Paraguay. But to the team, their stingy defensive unit is a symbol of pride. .
“We don’t play with a back five,” said Àngelo Preciado, an important member of the squad, when asked on Ecuador’s popular show Marca 90 about the need to play with such a congested line. “I’m a big winger [first] but I try to help the defenders. Maybe it’s seen as a defensive thing but we play a different kind of role.”
The role Preciado alluded to is a collective responsibility to to protect the goalkeeper and ensure no one enters the box. This team has turned stubbornness into an art form.
bee lack of history as a player means he has worked his way up through the coaching ladder, eventually working very closely with Jorge Sampaoli as his assistant for Universidad de Chile where they won practically every domestic title and the Copa Sudamericana in 2011. Eventually it led the pair to the national team during Chile’s golden years, which included the World Cup in 2014 when Chile eliminated Spain in the Round of 16. They were also the duo that led Chile to win Copa América a year later. Afterward, he joined Argentinian club Defensa y Justicia before Sampaoli approached him once again, this time as part of the 2018 World Cup campaign for Argentina.
Now he leads a national team that has grown in stature due to the continuous investment in domestic youth development and global awareness. Clubs such as Independiente del Valle and Liga de Quito have implemented such strong projects from the youth level that the country is now seen as a hub for European scouts – especially when it comes to center backs. From the aforementioned Pacho to Piero Hincapié, the versatile defender who was part of Bayer Leverkusen’s historic Bundesliga title in 2023/24 and now plays for Arsenal.
Every position, though, has up and coming stars. Independiente del Valle, for example, has one of the best academies in the continent and continues to produce talent such as the aforementioned Caicedo, Preciado, Pacho and Joel Ordóńez from Club Brugge. Then there are younger players such as 18-year-old Kendry Páez (on loan at Strasbourg from Chelsea) and 22-year-old Patrik Mercado. These clubs are now focusing so much more on infrastructure – analytically and technically – than ever before.
For these upcoming friendlies against the USMNT and México, Ecuador won’t have Caicedo, Hincapié and Flamengo’s Gonzalo Plata in order to give them recovery time for their respective clubs as some are dealing with injuries. But it’s still a valuable chance for other members to prove why they deserve a place in next summer’s tournament.
Regardless of the availability, Beccacece doesn’t care so much if these are just friendlies or not. In last week’s press conference, he ended it with a call to action and a warning to anyone who might underestimate his team.
“We are focused on making the greatest World Cup in the history of the national team,” he said.
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Luis Miguel Echegaray is a writer, analyst and host specializing in soccer and sports content that also appeals to the U.S. Latino and young audience. He has previously worked at ESPN, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and is returning to the Guardian as a contributor.
