The Ecuador national football team (), nicknamed La Tricolor and La Tri represents Ecuador in men's international football and is controlled by the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol (). They joined FIFA in 1926 and CONMEBOL a year later.
Discarding an invitation to participate in the inaugural FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay, Ecuador did not make their tournament debut until 2002. After finishing above Brazil and Uruguay in the standings, the qualifying campaign 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. Having reached the Round of 16 in a memorable 2006 World Cup campaign, they were expected to deliver at the 2007 Copa América but were eliminated in the group stage. Along with Venezuela, they have not won the continental tournament. La Tris best performance was fourth in 1959 and 1993, both times on home soil.
Ecuador plays the majority of their home matches at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito.
History Historically, Ecuador has been seen as a struggling footballing nation in South America. Despite their past failures, however, Ecuador has risen to be a serious South American competitor in recent years.
Football was introduced to Ecuador by Juan Alfredo Wright, who had recently returned from university in England. On 23 April 1899, he and his brother Roberto founded the first Ecuadorian football team, Guayaquil Sport Club. As the popularity of the sport grew in the country, more teams were established. On 30 May 1925, the Federación Deportiva Nacional del Ecuador was founded. In 1930, FIFA sent an invitation encouraging for a men's national team to participate at the maiden World Cup. However, the then-Minister of Social Security and Sports declined the offer as they did not approve of the financial allocation.
In 1938, the I Bolivarian Games were organized, with Ecuador set to take part in the football tournament. On 8 August 1938, they played their first-ever match; a 1–1 draw with Bolivia. Their following game saw the national team earn a 2–1 win against Colombia. Following a 9–1 crushing by Peru and a 5–2 victory over Venezuela, Ecuador was tied for the silver medal with Bolivia. A playoff saw the Bolivians emerge triumphantly and the Ecuadorians finished the competition with the bronze medal.
After finishing fourth at the 1959 South American Championship, the team entered the World Cup qualifiers for the first time. They failed to qualify for 1962 after inflicted defeats by Argentina.
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. In the end, they achieved a 6th-place finish, just under Peru and Chile.
Following the appointment of Hernán Darío Gómez for their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, Ecuador recorded a historic 1–0 win against Brazil. A 5–1 win over Bolivia saw la Tricolor only needing a point to qualify for the World Cup. They faced Uruguay, and, after managing to cling onto a 1–1 draw, obtained their spot in the World Cup in East Asia.
Ecuador started the 2002 World Cup with a 2–0 loss to Italy. Agustín Delgado scored his country's first World Cup goal; he opened the scoring in a 2–1 loss to Mexico. Despite defeating Croatia, who had achieved third place in the previous tournament, and eliminating the Croats in process, Ecuador placed fourth in Group G and 24th overall.
A disappointing showing at the 2004 Copa América led to the resignation of Gómez, who was replaced by 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 Ecuador qualification to the knockout stages for the first time.
After a dull 2014 FIFA World Cup, and an unpleasant streak of failing to advance past the group stages of the Copa América, Gustavo Quinteros was hired to help rebuild the national team. Quinteros helped Ecuador reach the quarter-finals of the Copa América Centenario and started the 2018 World Cup qualifiers strong. They were setback after a loss to Uruguay and finished eighth in the standings.
Gómez was reinstalled to lead Ecuador at the 2019 Copa América. His second stint was short, as he was soon fired after a disastrous tournament, having only earned a point.
For the qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as punishment for fielding the player Byron Castillo who had a passport with falsified information in the previous World Cup qualification cycle, Ecuador was deducted three points and fined CHF 100,000.
Home stadium
The Ecuador national team plays their home games at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito. Having opened in 1951, it initially had a capacity of 45,000, but was later reduced to 35,724.
The stadium has a running track, which has gone to be one of the most important in South America for events organized by the former International Association of Athletics Federations.
15 gates surround the stadium, allowing for an evacuation to be completed in about 10 minutes. The venue also features an electronic scoreboard located in the northern sector. The screen, manufactured by Hungarian-based company Elektroimpex in 1985, measures 10 meters tall and 30 meters wide.
In this stadium, Ecuador defeated Uruguay at the 1993 Copa América and Brazil at the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. After tying with the former on 7 November 2001, Ecuador qualified for their first World Cup. Since then, Ecuador has qualified three times.
The stadium is set to be demolished in late-2020 for a newer stadium, which in first instance was for preparation for the 2024 Copa América. However, Ecuador declined to host Copa America in 2022.
For the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Ecuador played at the Casa Blanca.
Team image
The standard Ecuador uniform maintains the colours of the national flag, typically a yellow top, blue shorts, and red socks. The alternate colours of the uniform are white and blue, this being based on the flag of the Guayas Province. From 1965 to 2020, the crest featured the Andean condor, Ecuador's national bird, above a shield with the country's colors. In January 2020, the Ecuadorian Football Federation announced a rebrand of the logo; a navy blue shield with an "FEF" monogram attempting to "abstractly build a condor".
Kit sponsorship Kit supplier Period Adidas 1985 Credeport 1986–1990 Puma 1991–1992 Reebok 1993–1994 Marathon 1994–present
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
Coaching staff PositionName Head coach Marcelo Gallardo Assistant coach Nicolás Chiesa Guillermo Marino Goalkeeper coach Gustavo Campagnuolo Fitness coach Martín Bressan
Coaching history
Enrique Lamas (1938) Ramón Unamuno (1939) Juan Parodi (1941–1942) Rodolfo Orlandini (1945) Ramón Unamuno (1947) José Planas (1949) Iván Esperón (1953) José María Díaz (1955) Eduardo Spandre (1957) Juan López (1959–1960) Fausto Montalván (1963, 1966) José María Rodríguez (1965) José Gomes Nogueira (1969) Ernesto Guerra (1970, 1977–1979, 1983) Jorge Lazo (1972) Roberto Resquín (1973) Roque Máspoli (1975–1977) Héctor Morales (1979–1980) Otto Vieira (1981) Juan Hohberg (1981–1982) Antoninho Ferreira (1984–1985) Luis Grimaldi (1986–1987) Dušan Drašković (1988–1993) Carlos Torres Garcés (1994) Carlos Ron (1994) Francisco Maturana (1995–1997, 1997) Luis Fernando Suárez (1997, 2004–2007) Polo Carrera (1998) Carlos Sevilla (1999) Hernán Darío Gómez (1999–2004, 2018–2019) Sixto Vizuete (2007–2010, 2014–2015) Reinaldo Rueda (2010–2014) Gustavo Quinteros (2015–2017) Jorge Célico (2017–2018, 2019–2020) Jordi Cruyff (2020) Gustavo Alfaro (2020–2023) Félix Sánchez (2023–2024) Sebastián Beccacece (2024–2026) Marcelo Gallardo (2026–present)
Players Current squad The following players were called up to the squad for the friendly against South Korea on 24 September and the Kirin Cup Soccer matches against Japan and Panama on 1 and 5 October 2026, respectively.
Caps and goals current as of 5 October 2026, after the match against Panama.
Recent call-ups The following players have been called up during the last twelve months.
INJ Withdrew from the squad due to injury. PRE Preliminary squad / standby. RET Retired from the national team. SUS Withdrew from the squad due to suspension. WD Withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons. TRP Invited as a training player.
Retired numbers Following the death of Christian Benítez, the Ecuadorian Football Federation retired his jersey number 11 from the national team. According to the Federation's then-president, Luis Chiriboga, to honor Benítez the number would no longer be used by any other team player. However, due to FIFA regulations, the number had to be reinstated for the 2014 World Cup squad, taken by Felipe Caicedo.
Player records
Players in bold are still active with Ecuador.
Most appearances
RankPlayerCapsGoalsEcuador career1Iván Hurtado16842Walter Ayoví12182001–20173Édison Méndez111182000–20144Enner Valencia109492012–2026Álex Aguinaga109231987–20046Ulises de la Cruz10161995–20107Luis Capurro10011985–20038Antonio Valencia99112004–20199Giovanny Espinoza9032000–200910Segundo Castillo8892003–2016José Francisco Cevallos8801994–2010
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerGoalsCapsRatioEcuador career1Enner Valencia491092Agustín Delgado31723Eduardo Hurtado26741992–20024Christian Benítez25612005–20135Álex Aguinaga231091987–20046Felipe Caicedo22682005–20177Édison Méndez181112000–20148Raúl Avilés16551987–1993Iván Kaviedes16571996–201210Ariel Graziani15341997–2000
Competitive record FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPositionSquad 1930Did not enterDeclined invitation 1934Did not enter 1938 1950WithdrewWithdrew 1954Did not enterDid not enter 1958 1962Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 3 11 1966 5 2 1 2 7 7 1970 4 0 1 3 2 8 1974 4 0 2 2 3 8 1978 4 0 1 3 1 9 1982 4 1 1 2 2 5 1986 4 0 1 3 4 11 1990 4 1 1 2 4 5 1994 8 1 3 4 7 7 1998 16 6 3 7 22 21 2002 Group stage 24th 3 1 0 2 2 4 Squad 18 9 4 5 23 20 2006 Round of 16 12th 4 2 0 2 5 4 Squad 18 8 4 6 23 19 2010Did not qualify 18 6 5 7 22 26 2014 Group stage 17th 3 1 1 1 3 3 Squad 16 7 4 5 20 16 2018Did not qualify 18 6 2 10 26 29 2022 Group stage 18th 3 1 1 1 4 3 Squad 18 7 5 6 27 19 2026 Round of 32 25th 4 1 1 2 2 4 Squad 18 8 8 2 14 5 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total176381618—179624671210226
Copa América
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
South American Championship / Copa América recordYearRoundPositionSquad 1916No national representative 1917 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925Not a CONMEBOL member 1926 1927Did not participate 1929 1935 1937 1939Fifth place5th4004418Squad 19415th4004121Squad 1942Seventh place7th6006431Squad 19457th6015927Squad 1946Withdrew 1947Sixth place6th7034317Squad 1949Seventh place7th7106721Squad 19537th6024113Squad 1955Sixth place6th5005422Squad 1956Withdrew 1957Seventh place7th6015723Squad 1959Withdrew 1959Fourth place4th411259Squad 1963Sixth place6th61231418Squad 1967Did not qualify1975Group stage9th4013410Squad19799th410347Squad19839th4022410Squad 19878th201114Squad 19897th412122Squad 19917th411265Squad 1993Fourth place4th6402135Squad 1995Group stage9th310223Squad 1997Quarter-finals5th422052Squad 1999Group stage11th300337Squad 20019th310255Squad 200412th3003310Squad 200711th300336Squad 201110th301225Squad 201510th310246Squad 2016Quarter-finals8th412174Squad 2019Group stage11th301227Squad 2021Quarter-finals8th503259Squad 20248th412154SquadTotalFourth place30/38130172885139331—
Pan American Games