Ecuador must approach their World Cup clash with Curacao with “more confidence than ever”, coach Sebastián Beccacece said despite their opening Group E defeat to Ivory Coast.
La Tri were the better side for long periods in Philadelphia, hitting the woodwork several times.
Yet their well-documented struggles in front of goal continued, and they were undone by a sucker punch as Amad Diallo netted a 90th-minute winner.
Ecuador will be expected to bounce back in style against the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup.
And Beccacece urged his side to attack the task of avoiding a slip-up that could end their tournament with belief despite their poor start.
“When you don’t start the way you wanted, the anxiety appears,” said Beccacece.
“But now we need more conviction than ever, more belief than ever, more confidence than ever.”
The loser of this game will be eliminated unless Germany beat Ivory Coast in the group’s other game.
Curacao marked their debut in the tournament with a piece of history when Livano Comenencia scored their first goal at the finals to equalise against Germany.
It went downhill from there as Germany ran out 7-1 winners, but coach Dick Advocaat believes Curacao can still make it a tournament to remember for the island nation.
“We need to turn this into a beautiful tournament,” Advocaat told reporters following the Germany loss.
“We can have a surprise in the second and third match. In the end we will be glad we were part of the biggest football tournament in the world.”
Table of Contents
Team news for Ecuador v Curacao
Both sides came through their opening games unscathed.
Predicted line-ups for Ecuador v Curacao
Ecuador: Galindez; Franco, Pacho, Ordonez, Hincapie; Yeboah, Caicedo, Vite, Angulo; Valencia, Plata
Curacao: Room; Floranus, Bazoer, Obispo, Fonville; Comenencia, L. Bacuna, J. Bacuna; Chong; Locadia, Hansen
Where to watch Ecuador v Curacao: TV and online streams
Ecuador v Curacao kicks off at 1:00am UK time on Sunday. It will be broadcast on BBC One and is also available to watch on the iPlayer and via the BBC Sport website.
Stats for Ecuador v Curacao
- Ecuador are winless in their last three matches at the World Cup since beating Qatar in the opening game of the 2022 tournament (D1, L2).
- La Tri are unbeaten in their previous 13 matches against CONCACAF opposition (W7, D6). Their last defeat came in a 3-2 loss to Mexico in June 2019.
- Curacao have lost one of their previous three games with opponents from CONMEBOL (W1, D1). Their only defeat was a 7-0 hammering by Argentina in March 2023.
Prediction for Ecuador v Curacao
Ecuador did enough to score multiple times against Ivory Coast. After somehow drawing a blank in that clash, expect them to make amends here.
Prediction: Ecuador 4-0 Curacao
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