If Ecuador’s young team defeats or draws with African champions Senegal in their Group A matchup today at the Khalifa International Stadium, they would be tantalizingly close to a record-equaling last 16 spot in the World Cup.
The South Americans have had an excellent start to the competition, comfortably defeating the hosts Qatar 2-0 before outplaying the Netherlands and being unlucky not to win in a 1-1 tie that made fun of the difference in their world rankings between the two teams.
The job is not done, however, as defeat by African champions Senegal could send them home rather than enable them to reach the knockout round for the second time in Ecuador’s history.
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“We have a bigger battle coming,” coach Gustavo Alvaro quickly warned after the euphoria of the performance against the Dutch, whom he had craftily acknowledged in advance were a superior side.
So far, Ecuador have been reliant on their veteran striker Enner Valencia, who has scored all their goals to add to his three at the 2014 World Cup.
But he is only the spearhead with a wealth of exuberant talent behind him, not least flourishing young midfielder Moises Caicedo, 21, who is at the heart of everything good that Ecuador do, both shielding his defence and releasing the strikers.
Once again, Ecuador are sweating on Valencia’s fitness after he was stretchered off late on in the Netherlands game with a recurrence of a knee strain suffered
against Qatar.
“He’s the only one with World Cup experience,” said Alfaro, who led a generational change in the national side that enabled them to punch their way out of arguably the world’s toughest qualifiers in South America.
“The rest are kids.”
Senegal’s Bamba Dieng, N’Diaye Moussa, Moustapha Name and teammates during training. Reuters
Senegal are less intimidating opposition without the injured Sadio Mane and know they have to improve to beat Ecuador after losing 2-0 to the Dutch but beating Qatar 3-1 to sit in third place in Group A on three points.
“Our concentration must be better,” said Senegal coach Aliou Cisse.
“We need to win to have a chance to qualify for the last 16.”
One of only three African nations to have reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup, Senegal know that victory over Ecuador would help atone for a miserable last tournament in Russia where they were eliminated on disciplinary points.
Senegal could theoretically still go through if they draw, as could Ecuador if they lose, but both those scenarios would require a win by Qatar over the Netherlands sufficient to push the Dutch into third place on goal difference.
When: Today at 6:00pm
Where: Khalifa International Stadium
Capacity: 45,857
Key stats:
– Senegal must win to ensure they earn a place in the last 16, though a draw may be enough if Qatar beat the Netherlands by two goals or more. A draw will see Ecuador advance, while they could still go through in defeat if Qatar get a big enough win over Netherlands.
– Ecuador’s last six goals at the World Cup, all scored in the 2014 and 2022 tournaments, have been netted by forward Enner Valencia. He has three in this campaign and is comfortably his country’s all-time leading scorer at the global finals ahead of Agustin Delgado (3 goals).
– Ecuador are playing in their fourth World Cup with aspirations to surpass their previous best performance when they reached the last 16 in Germany in 2006.
– Senegal reached the World Cup quarter-finals on debut in 2002 but were eliminated in the group stage on fair play points in their second visit in 2018 when they finished level with Japan.
– Senegal have met South American opposition twice at the World Cup. They drew 3-3 with Uruguay in 2002 and lost 1-0 to Colombia in 2018. Ecuador have never faced an African nation at the finals.
Previous meetings:
Ecuador and Senegal have met on one previous occasion when they played a pre-World Cup friendly in 2002. The African nation triumphed 1-0.
