Ecuador Tickets

Football is the most popular sport in Ecuador and it continues to grow exponentially.

To get in on the action, visit SeatPick so you can buy tickets to see La Tri up close.

History of the Ecuador National Soccer Team

The Ecuadorian Football Federation was founded in 1925 and it gained affiliation with CONMEBOL (governing body of football in South America) as well as FIFA within a couple of years.

The first official fixture involving the Ecuador national soccer team came in 1938, against neighbours Bolivia. The contest took place in Bogotá, Colombia and it ended all-square, 1-1.

Over the course of the next few years, Ecuador also organised friendlies versus other nearby countries such as Peru and Venezuela.

The Ecuadorians participated in their first major tournament in 1939, and La Tri played at the FIFA World Cup for just the first time in 2002.

In 2013, the Ecuador national football team achieved its highest FIFA world ranking of 10th.

Ecuador at the FIFA World Cup

Ecuador first appeared at the World Cup in 2002. The tournament was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, and the South American debutants were grouped together with Italy, Mexico and Croatia.

La Tri lost their opening game against the Azzurri, before also going down to Mexico. In their third and final match, Ecuador beat Croatia 1-0 to record their first-ever World Cup win.

Ecuador returned at the next edition in 2006 and shared a group with Poland, Costa Rica and hosts Germany. The men in yellow recorded two wins and progressed beyond the group stage for the first time, though they ultimately crashed out at the Round of 16 stage with a 1-0 defeat to England.

After missing out on the World Cup finals in 2010, Ecuador once again took part in 2014. Victory over Honduras and a stalemate against France wasn't enough to see the South Americans reach the knockouts, as Switzerland advanced instead.

Their next World Cup appearance came in Qatar 2022, where they were in the same group as the hosts as well as Senegal and the Netherlands. Ecuador picked up 4 points, beating the hosts and settling for a draw versus the Dutch, but ultimately exited the tournament at the group stage yet again.

Ecuador at Copa America

Despite making a first appearance at the Copa America in 1939, when the competition was still known as the South American Championship, Ecuador didn't manage to pick up its first victory at the event until 1949.

La Tri recorded their best return at Copa America in 1993, when the country hosted the showpiece event. The competition had been expanded to 12 teams and Ecuador reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual champions Argentina and then to Colombia in the third-place match.

Following the relative success on home soil, the Ecuador national team won just six of its next 37 games at Copa America. This spanned across 11 editions of the tournament, with the men in yellow exiting at the group stages in six of them.

Best Ecuador Football Players

Ivan Hurtado is the most-capped Ecuadorian international of all time. 22 years separated his national team debut in 1992 and his final international outing in 2014. During this period the defender earned a stellar 168 caps, more than any other Ecuador player in history.

Edison Mendez amassed 111 caps for Ecuador, as well as 105 appearances for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. The attacking midfielder was the scorer of his country's first-ever goal at the World Cup, as he netted against Croatia at the 2002 event.

Antonio Valencia made his international debut in 2004, aged 18, and earned a total 99 caps for Ecuador. He made 325 appearances in the English Premier League, with the bulk of those coming in the colours of Manchester United having signed from Wigan Athletic in 2009. Valencia was named captain of the Red Devils in 2018.

Enner Valencia also played in the English top flight, featuring for both West Ham United and Everton, before he joined Turkish Super Lig side Fenerbahce in 2020. The striker is the first and only Ecuador player to score 40 or more international goals. He bagged three goals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and repeated the feat at the 2022 tournament.

The latest Ecuadorian sensation to grace football's superior domestic league was Moises Caicedo. The midfielder signed for Brighton & Hove Albion in early 2021, before completing a €130m move to Chelsea in 2023, a British record transfer fee. Caicedo was just 21 at the time of his mega-money switch to Stamford Bridge, though he had already appeared 32 times for the Ecuador national team.

Similarly, Piero Hincapie had represented the Ecuador senior team on more than 30 occasions by the time he turned 22. The central defender joined Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen in 2021.