Ecuatorian Soccer Federation (Federacion Ecuatoriana de Futbol - FEF)

Ecuatorian Soccer Federation (Federacion Ecuatoriana de Futbol - FEF)

The Ecuador national football team is the national team of Ecuador and is governed by the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol. It was for a long time one of the weaker teams in CONMEBOL, but it has recently had more success, making their first World Cup qualification in 2002, and qualifying again for the 2006 World Cup in which they made the last 16, losing to England. Detractors of the team have sometimes sought to attribute their success to their advantage in acclimatisation to playing matches at altitude in Quito (c. 2850 m or 9,350 ft above sea level), but success in qualification for, and performances in, two FIFA World Cup finals have lessened this tendency.

History

Although without any major tournament achievements until the current millennium, Ecuador was never short of footballing talent.

They first participated in qualifying in the 1962 campaign but were 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. Ecuador, featuring stars such as Washington Muñoz, Alberto Spencer, Carlos Raffo, Enrique Raymondi and Jorge Bolaños, forced a play-off in Peru before being eliminated by Chile.

This remained the closest they had come to appearing in a finals until the qualification tournament for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan in which they finished second to Argentina, and one point ahead of Brazil who went on to win the World Cup. Agustin Delgado, with 9 goals, finished joint top scorer in qualifying with Hernán Crespo of Argentina. Álex Aguinaga, Iván Kaviedes, Iván Hurtado and Ulises de la Cruz were other stars of the Ecuadorian campaign, led by Colombian born manager Hernán Darío Bolillo Gómez. 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 lead 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.

Their best finish in Copa América was fourth in 1993 (they also finished fourth in the 'extra' South American Championship in 1959).

In the 2007 Pan American Games, the Under-17 side won the gold medal and their first ever title in an international football tournament.[2]

Titles
Pan American Games: Gold (2007)

World Cup record
1930 to 1938 - Did not enter
1950 - Withdrew
1954 - Did not enter
1958 - Did not enter
1962 to 1998 - Did not qualify
2002 - Round 1
2006 - Round 2

World Cup Games

Korea - Japan 2002
Ecuador was placed in group G, alongside Mexico, Italy and Croatia.

3 June 2002 Italy - Ecuador 2-0
8 June 2002 Ecuador - Mexico 1-2 (Delgado)
13 June 2002 Ecuador - Croatia 1-0 (E.Mendez)

Germany 2006
Ecuador was placed in group A, alongside Germany, Poland and Costa Rica.

9 June 2006 Poland 0 - 2 Ecuador (C.Tenorio, Delgado)
15 June 2006 Ecuador 3 - 0 Costa Rica (Delgado, C.Tenorio, I.Kaviedes)
20 June 2006 Ecuador 0 - 3 Germany (Klose 2, Podolski)
25 June 2006 England 1 - 0 Ecuador (Beckham)

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

Pan American Games record
1951 to 1991 - Did not compete
1995 - Round 1
1999 to 2003 - Did not compete
2007 - Champions

2006 FIFA World Cup
Ecuador qualified for the second time to a FIFA World Cup by finishing third in the CONMEBOL qualification tournament. They were drawn in Group A, alongside hosts Germany, Poland, and Costa Rica. Ecuador won 2-0 against Poland in their first game, with goals from Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado. They then beat Costa Rica 3-0, thus securing their qualification to the next round, the goals coming from Carlos Tenorio, Agustin Delgado, and Ivan Kaviedes. Their qualification complete, they rested key players against the hosts Germany and were beaten 3-0. Ecuador thus took second place in group A behind Germany and faced England in the second round. A second half free kick from David Beckham was the only goal of the game, and Ecuador were eliminated 1-0.