The Ecuador national football team has appeared at five FIFA World Cups, the world's premier football tournament for national football teams. Ecuador's first participation in the World Cup was in 2002. Their best performance was in 2006, where they were eliminated in the round of 16.

Qualification history From 1930 to 1938, Ecuador refrained from FIFA World Cup qualification tournaments. Their first entry was the 1950 qualifying tournament; however, they later withdrew during qualification. Ecuador did not enter the 1954 and 1958 qualifying tournaments. From 1962 to 1998, Ecuador failed to qualify for the world's premier football tournament. They earned their first qualification in 2002 after finishing second in the CONMEBOL table. The qualification for a second tournament in 2006 was achieved after finishing third in the CONMEBOL table. Ecuador finished sixth in 2010 but did not qualify for a third consecutive World Cup tournament. Ecuador returned for the 2014 tournament before they were failed to qualify in 2018. They then qualified for back-to-back tournaments in 2022 and 2026.

YearPosition1930Did not enter193419381950Withdrew1954Did not enter195819622nd in Group 12002311−8019663rd in Group 34103410−6219703rd in Group 3401328−6119743rd in Group 1402238−5219783rd in Group 3401319−8119822nd in Group 3411225−3319863rd in Group 24013411−7119903rd in Group 2411245−1319944th in Group 28134770519986th166372221+12120022nd189452320+33120063rd188462319+42820106th186572226−42320144th167452016+42520188th1862102629−32020224th187562719+82620262nd18882145+929Total5 Times179624671208223−15

Overall record Ecuador has advanced past the group stage twice and have managed to win at least one match in each tournament they participated in. In three of the five World Cups Ecuador has played, they were coached by Colombian managers.

FIFA World Cup finals recordYearResultPosition* 1930Did not enter 1934 1938 1950Withdrew 1954Did not enter 1958 1962Did not qualify 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002Group stage24th310224 2006Round of 1612th420254 2010Did not qualify 2014Group stage17th311133 2018Did not qualify 2022Group stage18th311143 2026Round of 3225th411224 2030To be determined 2034TotalRound of 165/26176381618

2002 FIFA World Cup

Ecuador qualified for their first FIFA World Cup by finishing second in the CONMEBOL qualification tournament, finishing ahead of Brazil. Ecuador were drawn into Group G, alongside Mexico, Italy, and Croatia.

Ecuador made a losing World Cup debut against world powers Italy, falling 2–0 by courtesy of a Christian Vieri double. Their next match against Mexico went better, but ended in their 2–1 defeat. Agustín Delgado scored for Ecuador's first ever World Cup goal and put them ahead, but goals from Jared Borgetti and Gerardo Torrado canceled the early strike and effectively eliminated them from the tournament. A second-half goal from Édison Méndez did seal a 1–0 consolation win in the final match against Croatia. Although they finished the tournament last in their group, they managed to eliminate Croatia, previous third-place in 1998 World Cup, from the competition.

+Final Group G standingsTeam321042+27311143+14310223−13310224−23

+Squad statisticsFIFA.com Num Pos Player Date of birth (age) Club Minutes played ITA MEX CRO Total 1 GK José Francisco Cevallos Barcelona 90 90 90 270 2 DF Augusto Porozo Emelec 90 90 90 270 3 DF Iván Hurtado Barcelona 90 90 90 270 4 DF Ulises de la Cruz Hibernian 90 90 90 270 5 MF Alfonso Obregón LDU Quito 90 58 40 188 6 DF Raúl Guerrón Deportivo Quito 90 90 90 270 7 MF Nicolás Asencio Barcelona 5 0 0 5 8 DF Luis Gómez Barcelona 0 0 0 0 9 FW Iván Kaviedes Barcelona 0 53 14 67 10 MF Álex Aguinaga Necaxa 45 32 50 127 11 FW Agustín Delgado Southampton 90 90 90 270 12 GK Oswaldo Ibarra El Nacional 0 0 0 0 13 FW Ángel Fernández El Nacional 0 0 0 0 14 MF Juan Carlos Burbano El Nacional 0 0 0 0 15 DF Marlon Ayoví Deportivo Quito 31 55 90 176 16 MF Cléber Chalá El Nacional 85 90 90 265 17 DF Giovanny Espinoza Aucas 0 0 0 0 18 MF Carlos Tenorio LDU Quito 45 37 76 158 19 MF Édison Méndez Deportivo Quito 90 90 90 270 20 MF Edwin Tenorio Barcelona 59 35 0 94 21 MF Wellington Sánchez Emelec 0 0 0 0 22 GK Daniel Viteri Emelec 0 0 0 0 23 MF Walter Ayoví Emelec 0 0 0 0 Manager: Hernán Darío Gómez

2006 FIFA World Cup

Ecuador qualified for their second FIFA World Cup by finishing third in the CONMEBOL qualification tournament. They were drawn into Group A, alongside hosts Germany, Poland, and Costa Rica.

Ecuador campaign got off with a shock 2–0 win against Poland in their first game in Gelsenkirchen, with goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustín Delgado. They then beat Costa Rica 3–0 in Hamburg with goals coming from Carlos Tenorio, Agustín Delgado, and Iván Kaviedes. The win advanced them to the next round. Their qualification complete, they rested key players against the hosts Germany and were beaten 3–0. Ecuador finished second in Group A behind Germany and faced England in the Round of 16. A second-half free-kick from David Beckham was the only goal of the game, which eliminated Ecuador from the World Cup.

+Final Group A standingsTeam330082+69320153+26310224−23300339−60

+Squad statisticsFIFA.com Num Pos Player Date of birth (age) Club Minutes played POL CRC GER ENG Total 1 GK Edwin Villafuerte Deportivo Quito 0 0 0 0 0 2 DF Jorge Guagua El Nacional 21 21 90 0 132 3 DF Iván Hurtado Al-Arabi 69 90 0 90 249 4 DF Ulises de la Cruz Aston Villa 90 90 90 90 360 5 DF José Luis Perlaza Olmedo 0 0 0 0 0 6 MF Patricio Urrutia LDU Quito 7 17 22 0 46 7 MF Christian Lara El Nacional 0 0 27 21 48 8 MF Édison Méndez LDU Quito 90 90 90 90 360 9 FW Félix Borja El Nacional 0 0 45 0 45 10 FW Iván Kaviedes Argentinos Juniors 25 45 90 18 178 11 FW Agustín Delgado LDU Quito 83 90 0 90 263 12 GK Cristian Mora LDU Quito 90 90 90 90 360 13 DF Paúl Ambrosi LDU Quito 0 0 90 0 0 14 MF Segundo Castillo El Nacional 90 90 0 90 270 15 MF Marlon Ayoví Deportivo Quito 0 0 68 0 68 16 MF Antonio Valencia Recreativo de Huelva 90 73 63 90 316 17 DF Giovanny Espinoza LDU Quito 90 69 90 90 339 18 DF Néicer Reasco LDU Quito 90 90 0 90 270 19 MF Luis Saritama Deportivo Quito 0 0 0 0 0 20 MF Edwin Tenorio Barcelona 90 90 90 69 339 21 FW Carlos Tenorio Al-Sadd 65 45 0 72 182 22 GK Damián Lanza Aucas 0 0 0 0 0 23 FW Christian Benítez El Nacional 0 0 0 45 0 Coach: Luis Fernando Suárez

2014 FIFA World Cup

Ecuador qualified for their third FIFA World Cup by finishing fourth in the CONMEBOL qualification tournament. Ecuador was drawn into Group E, alongside France, Honduras and Switzerland.

Ecuador played its first match in Brasília, capital of Brazil. Enner Valencia scored the first goal of the match for Ecuador against Switzerland, but the squad happened to allow the European team to win 2–1. In the second match, played in the city of Curitiba, Honduras scored the first goal, but Enner Valencia scored twice, giving Ecuador its first victory at the 2014 World Cup. The last match of the group was played in Rio de Janeiro against France, but nobody scored any goal, despite Ecuador captain Antonio Valencia getting sent off in the 50th minute. These results, however, were not enough to make the country qualify to the next phase of the tournament.

+Final Group E standingsTeam321082+67320176+1631113304300318−70

+Squad statisticsresources.fifa.com/mm/document/.../2014fwc_tsg_report_15082014web_neutral.pdf Num Pos Player Date of birth (age) Club Minutes played SUI HON FRA Total 1 GK Máximo Banguera Barcelona 0 0 0 0 2 DF Jorge Guagua Emelec 90 90 90 270 3 DF Frickson Erazo Flamengo 90 90 90 270 4 DF Juan Carlos Paredes Barcelona 90 90 90 270 5 MF Renato Ibarra Vitesse 0 0 27 27 6 MF Christian Noboa Dynamo Moscow 90 90 89 269 7 MF Jefferson Montero Monarcas Morelia 77 90 63 230 8 MF Édison Méndez Independiente Santa Fe 0 8 0 8 9 MF Joao Rojas Cruz Azul 13 0 0 13 10 DF Walter Ayoví Pachuca 0 0 0 0 11 FW Felipe Caicedo Al-Jazira 70 82 1 153 12 GK Adrián Bone El Nacional 0 0 0 0 13 FW Enner Valencia Pachuca 90 90 90 270 14 MF Oswaldo Minda Chivas USA 0 83 90 177 15 MF Michael Arroyo Atlante 20 0 82 102 16 MF Antonio Valencia Manchester United 90 90 50 230 17 FW Jaime Ayoví Tijuana 0 0 0 0 18 DF Óscar Bagüí Emelec 0 0 0 0 19 MF Luis Saritama Barcelona 0 0 0 0 20 MF Fidel Martínez Tijuana 0 0 0 0 21 DF Gabriel Achilier Emelec 0 2 8 10 22 GK Alexander Domínguez LDU Quito 90 90 90 270 23 MF Carlos Gruezo VfB Stuttgart 90 7 0 97 Manager: Reinaldo Rueda

2022 FIFA World Cup

Group stage

Num Pos Player Date of birth (age) Club Minutes played QAT NED SEN Total 1 GK Hernán Galíndez Aucas 90 90 90 270 2 DF Félix Torres Santos Laguna 90 90 90 270 3 DF Piero Hincapié Bayer 04 Leverkusen 90 90 90 270 4 DF Robert Arboleda São Paulo 0 0 0 0 5 MF José Cifuentes Los Angeles FC 13 0 45 58 6 DF Willian Pacho Royal Antwerp 0 0 0 0 7 DF Pervis Estupiñán Brighton & Hove Albion 90 90 90 270 8 MF Carlos Gruezo Augsburg 0 0 4545 9 MF Ayrton Preciado Santos Laguna 0 0 00 10 MF Romario Ibarra Pachuca 68 1 069 11 FW Michael Estrada Cruz Azul 90 74 64228 12 GK W. Moisés Ramírez Independiente del Valle 0 0 00 13 FW Enner Valencia Fenerbahçe 77 90 90257 14 DF Xavier Arreaga Seattle Sounders FC 0 0 00 15 MF Ángel Mena León 0 0 00 16 MF Jeremy Sarmiento Brighton & Hove Albion 22 16 4583 17 DF Angelo Preciado Genk 90 90 85265 18 DF Diego Palacios Los Angeles FC 0 0 00 19 MF Gonzalo Plata Real Valladolid 90 90 90270 20 MF Jhegson Méndez Los Angeles FC 90 90 0180 21 MF Alan Franco Talleres (C) 1 0 4546 22 GK Alexander Domínguez LDU Quito 0 0 00 23 MF Moisés Caicedo Brighton & Hove Albion 0 90 9027024FW Djorkaeff Reasco Newell's Old Boys00262625DF Jackson Porozo ES Troyes AC09059526FW Kevin Rodríguez Imbabura SC1102 Manager: Gustavo Alfaro

2026 FIFA World Cup

Group stage

Ranking of third-placed teams

Knockout stage

Round of 32

Player records

Most appearances

RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups1Enner Valencia102014, 2022 and 20262Édison Méndez82002, 2006 and 20143Ulises de la Cruz72002 and 2006Antonio Valencia72006 and 2014Moisés Caicedo72022 and 2026Hernán Galíndez72022 and 2026Piero Hincapié72022 and 2026Gonzalo Plata72022 and 2026Ángelo Preciado72022 and 202610Agustín Delgado62002 and 2006Iván Hurtado62002 and 2006Iván Kaviedes62002 and 2006Carlos Tenorio62002 and 2006Edwin Tenorio62002 and 2006Jorge Guagua62006 and 2014Alan Franco62022 and 2026Kevin Rodríguez62022 and 2026

Goalscorers

PlayerGoals20022006201420222026Enner Valencia6 33Agustín Delgado312 Carlos Tenorio2 2 Édison Méndez 11 Iván Kaviedes1 1 Moisés Caicedo1 1Nilson Angulo1 1Gonzalo Plata1 1Total1625342

Head-to-head record OpponentWin %Total

See also Ecuador at the CONCACAF Gold Cup Ecuador at the Copa América South American nations at the FIFA World Cup

Footnotes

References

Reports

External links Official website of the Ecuadorian Football Federation Ecuador at FIFA.com