Ecuador squad World Cup 2026: Sebastian Beccacece's final selection for the tournament (original) (raw)

Ecuador's World Cup 2026 squad: Moisés Caicedo of Ecuador and teammates celebrates after winning a qualifier match.

Ecuador could be the tournament's finest underdog. (Image credit: Franklin Jacome/Getty Images)

The Ecuador World Cup 2026 squad has been announced, and their team could be one of the surprise packages in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

Reaching World Cup 2026 means Ecuador have qualified for a second consecutive World Cup for only the second time in their history, and they surely have enough firepower to raise eyebrows.

Ecuador aren't among the favourites but they quietly boast one of the most eye-catching squads at the tournament, chock full of heavy-hitting names that operate at the highest level of European football.

Ecuador were impressive in World Cup qualifying, losing just twice away from home against Argentina and Brazil, picking up eight wins and eight draws in often tight matches.

In CONMEBOL's 18-match qualification programme, Ecuador's defensive genius shone with just five goals conceded; they grabbed a whopping 29 points despite scoring just 14 goals, more than two points per strike.

Suffice to say, Sebastian Beccacece has made Ecuador very hard to score against and beat — in a 48-team tournament, that could be enough to get them through the group and might see them force a knock-out game or two to penalties.

There are individual talents in amongst this team effort, Moises Caicedo, Willian Pacho and Piero Hincapie being high-profile names in the line-up, however, Beccacece has assimilated them into a highly-organised team that has paid dividends during the build-up to this summer's World Cup 2026.

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Squad

Ecuador World Cup 2026 squad: The final selection

Fixtures

Recent Results

Group E Standings

Ecuador are in Group E at World Cup 2026.

Manager

Sebastian Beccacece reacts during the FIFA World Cup 2026 South American Qualifier match between Peru and Ecuador.

Sebastian Beccacece has some top-notch players at his disposal during this summer's tournament. (Image credit: Raul Sifuentes/Getty Images)

Who is Ecuador's manager?

Sebastian Beccacece never played professional football, opting instead to follow Jorge Sampaoli around as his assistant manager until he took on his first managerial role with Universidad de Chile in 2016.

Since then, he's had three spells at Defensa y Justicia, been Argentina's assistant manager, and taken charge of Independiente, Racing Club and Elche. He has been Ecuador's manager since August 2024.

He has impressed since taking over, leading Ecuador to a second-placed finish in CONMEBOL qualification, finishing only behind Argentina.

Star Player

Who is Ecuador's star player?

Ecuador facing off against Paraguy, with Moises Caicedo running.

Moises Caicedo has been one of Europe's brightest midfield sparks for years now. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Moises Caicedo is the fourth-most expensive Premier League player of all time, and for good reason.

He has been one of the outstanding players in European football over the past few years, with his all-action midfield displays consistently catching the eye.

If Ecuador are to deliver at the World Cup this summer, they'll need the same strong defence that got them there, and having someone in the shape of Caicedo at the helm of it all will be the difference.

Best XI

Marcus Alves is a freelance journalist based in Barcelona, having previously lived in Lisbon and Sao Paulo. With over 15 years of experience in the sports industry, he has written for FourFourTwo since 2012 and has also done work as a producer, translator and across social media, collaborating with leading media outlets including BBC, ESPN, Bleacher Report, The Telegraph, Kicker, Al Arabiya, FIFA, Folha de Sao Paulo and UOL. Alves covered 12 games in 15 days during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but none of them included the 7-1 - he still hasn’t watched the full match to this day.