Ecuador national football team players, coach, FIFA world rankings, World Cup 2022, trophies

Ecuador national football team players, coach, FIFA world rankings, World Cup 2022, trophies

Kevin Omuya
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:01 PM

Ecuador has a long history of being one of South America's most troubled footballing nations. However, they have recently emerged as a strong South American contender despite their previous flaws. Let us have a look at Ecuador's national football team including the names of the players, the coaches and captains and much more.

Ecuador national football team WORLD CUP 2022
Ecuador's players celebrate after a South American qualification match against Peru for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the National Stadium in Lima on February 1, 2022. Photo: Ernesto Benavides
Source: Getty Images

The team qualified for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. They have cemented their position as South America's fourth greatest team. The Andeans have qualified for four of the last six finals, a better record than Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru, who have qualified alongside regional powerhouses Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Profile summary

  • Full name: Ecuador national football team
  • Nickname: La Tri
  • Founded: 1899
  • Colours: Yellow, Black and Grey
  • Federation: FIFA
  • Head coach: Gustavo Alfaro
  • Captain: Enner Valencia
  • Top scorer: Enner Valencia (35 goals)
  • Most caps: Ivan Hurtado (168)
  • Stadium: Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado
  • FIFA code: ECU
  • FIFA ranking: 46
  • Instagram: @fefecuador
  • Twitter: @FEFecuador

Ecuador's national football team: qualifying history

La Tri did not qualify for the FIFA World Cup from 1930 to 1938. Ecuador qualified for the 1950 World Cup for the first time but withdrew from the process. They did not participate in the games in 1954 and 1958. They failed to qualify for the world's most prestigious football competition from 1962 to 1998.

They qualified for the first time in 2002 after coming second in South America. After coming third in South America, the team qualified for the second event in 2006. However, they finished sixth in South America in 2010, failing to be eligible for a third consecutive World Cup finals. They then returned to the 2014 edition before being eliminated from the 2018 edition.

Ecuador's national football team: nickname

They are also known as the La Tri (The Tri) because of their yellow football jersey.

Ecuador's national football team: captain

Ecuador national football team captain
Colombia's Cuadrado (L) and Ecuador's Enner vie for the ball during their South American qualification football match at the Metropolitan Stadium, Colombia, on October 14, 2021. Photo by Raul Arboleda
Source: Getty Images

Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays for Fenerbahçe in Turkey and the Ecuador national team. Valencia has earned 70 caps for La Tri since making his international debut in 2012. He competed in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Copa América in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Valencia is Ecuador's all-time leading scorer with 35 goals, and he shares the record for most goals in World Cup finals tournaments with three with Agustin Delgado. Have a look at the profile summary of Ecuador’s current captain.

Profile summary

  • Full name: Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra
  • Date of birth: 4 November 1989
  • Age: 32 (as of April 2022)
  • Place of birth: Esmeraldas, Ecuador
  • Height in inches: 5'9"
  • Height in centimetres: 174
  • Position: Forward, winger
  • Current team: Fenerbahce
  • Jersey number: 7

Ecuador national football team: coach

Ecuador national football team coach
Coach Gustavo Alfaro gestures during a match as part of the 2011 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana at Julio Grondona stadium on October 19, 2011, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo: Valentino Rossi
Source: Getty Images

Gustavo Julio Alfaro is a former Argentine footballer who is now the manager of Ecuador's national team. First, look at the profile summary of the team’s current coach.

Profile summary

  • Full name: Gustavo ulio Alfaro
  • Date of birth: 14 August 1962
  • Age: 59 (as of April 2022)
  • Place of birth: Rafaela, Argentina
  • Height in inches: 5'8"
  • Height in centimetres: 175

Ecuador's national football team: roster

They have only qualified for the event twice, the first time in 2002 when they played three group matches before reaching the final 16, where they were eliminated by England four years later. However, with the current squad, the degree of expectation on La Tri is set to be higher than ever this time around, with football's most significant competition being contested on their home continent.

Ecuador's national football team: players

Ecuador national football team players
Ecuador national football team players preview for World cup 2022. Photo: @FEFecuador
Source: Twitter

The following players' names were called to the team's squad. The squad will represent the country in the forthcoming World Cup tournament in Qatar 2022.

Goalkeepers

  • Jorge Pinos
  • Hernan Galindez
  • Wellington Ramírez

Defenders

  • Luis Fernando León
  • Robert Arboleda
  • Xavier Arreaga
  • Pervis Estupiñán
  • Byron Castillo
  • Félix Torres
  • Angelo Preciado
  • Diego Palacios
  • Piero Hincapié

Midfielders

  • Danny Cabezas Bazan
  • Carlos Gruezo
  • Sebastián Méndez
  • Joao Rojas López
  • José Cifuentes
  • Alan Franco
  • Gonzalo Plata
  • Moises Caicedo
  • Michael Carcelen
  • Djorkaeff Reasco

Forwards

  • Renato Ibarra
  • Enner Valencia
  • Romario Ibarra
  • Ángel Mena
  • Michael Estrada F
  • Jeremy Sarmiento
  • Jordy Caicedo26

Ecuador's national football team in the World Cup

In the final match against Croatia, Édison Méndez's second-half goal sealed a 1–0 consolation victory. Despite finishing last in their group, they could knock out Croatia, who had previously finished third in the 1998 World Cup. La Tri will be playing in their fourth World Cup in 2022, having competed in 2002, 2006, and 2014.

In the CONMEBOL qualifications, they finished fourth, barely two points ahead of Peru. After finishing fourth in World Cup qualifying, they earned the last automatic berth for South America at the 2022 World Cup.

Ecuador's national football team: world ranking

According to FIFA rankings, they are the world's 12th best team. They are also the best South American team, trailing only Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, and Uruguay.

  • Current 55 (12 August 2021)
  • Highest 10 (June 2013)
  • Lowest 71 (November 2017)

Ecuador national football team trophies

  • Canada Cup: Winners: 1999
  • Olympic and Pan American Team: Pan American Games: 1st place, gold medalist 2007
  • South American Games: 2nd place, Silver Medalists (4): 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010. 3rd place, Bronze Medalist: 2014
  • South American U-20 Championship: Winners: 2019

Bolivarian Games

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold Medalists (2): 1965, 1985
  • 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver Medalists (3): 2009, 2013, 2017
  • 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze Medalists (2): 1938, 2005

Is Ecuador a good soccer team? La Tri has a long history of being one of South America's most troubled footballing nations. However, they have recently emerged as a strong contender despite their previous flaws.

Has Ecuador won a World Cup?

They have qualified for three FIFA World Cups, the world's most significant football competition for national football teams, with a fourth appearance scheduled for 2022. However, they have not won a World Cup yet.

Who is the best soccer player in Ecuador?

These are the top 10 Ecuadorian footballers of all time:

  • Jose Cevallos (1994-2010, 89 caps, no goals) © Getty Images.
  • Ulises de la Cruz (1995-2010, 101 caps, six goals)
  • Edison Mendez (2000-present, 108 caps, 18 goals)
  • Agustin Delgado (1994-2006, 71 caps, 31 goals)
  • Alex Aguinaga (1987-2004, 109 caps, 23 goals)
Ecuador national football team players
Ecuador's national football team: players, coach, FIFA world rankings, World Cup 2022, trophies. Photo: @FEFecuador
Source: Getty Images

Claims against Ecuador in the World Cup

They qualified for the World Cup finals in Qatar by finishing fourth in the CONMEBOL portion of the competition. In a 10-team group, Chile finished seventh, with Peru, who will compete in an intercontinental play-off and Colombia finishing ahead of them. However, Castillo did not play against either of those nations.

Chile played against Ecuador, and they are requesting that the six points earned in those games be awarded to them, a circumstance that would see Ecuador national football team lose their spot in Group A. In addition, there have been several other cases of countries requesting action from FIFA for alleged transgressions.

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Authors
Kevin Omuya photo
Kevin Omuya
Kevin Omuya is a Content Writer with 4 years of experience who joined Sports Brief in 2022. In 2019 he held a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Digital Media from KCA University.