This article is part of the Guardian’s World Cup 2022 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 November.
The plan
This Ecuador team was built from scratch when the unheralded Argentinian Gustavo Alfaro came in to bring some stability after the short and unsuccessful tenures of Hernán Darío Gómez, Jorge Célico and Jordi Cruyff (who left without taking charge of a single game). The road to Qatar looked long and winding when Alfaro took over in 2020 but he discarded the old guard of Antonio Valencia, Christian Noboa and Felipe Caicedo to make room for youngsters such as Piero Hincapié, Moisés Caicedo and Gonzalo Plata among others. “It was all about getting our teeth into the challenge and making our mark on the project without altering the essence of Ecuadorian football, while at the same time introducing new elements to try to reverse the dynamic that resulted in Ecuador failing to qualify for the 2018 edition in Russia,” he told Fifa.com.
Alfaro is not afraid to change tactics depending on the opponent but 4-4-2 is the most common formation. There have been increased flirtations with 4-3-3 but the 3-5-2 system utilised at times during qualifying has not been seen since.
Ecuador were the youngest team to qualify from South America with an average age of just over 25. Sadly some key players have sustained serious injuries: São Paulo’s Robert Arboleda tore ankle ligaments in June, while Ayrton Preciado of Santos and Joao Rojas of Monterrey are also set to miss out.
Ecuador qualified for Qatar by finishing fourth in the South American section, two points ahead of Peru, who had to go to an intercontinental playoff, which they lost to Australia. There was controversy with Chile and Peru trying to get Ecuador thrown out of the World Cup because they had fielded and ineligible player, Byron David Castillo. Fifa ruled in Ecuador’s favour but Cas (Court of Arbitration for Sport) is set to hear the case on 4 November.
Read More: World Cup 2022 team guides part 1: Ecuador | World Cup