Football in Ecuador
Football (fútbol) in Ecuador | |
---|---|
Country | Ecuador |
Governing body | Ecuadorian Football Federation |
National team(s) | Ecuador |
First played | 1867 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
List
| |
International competitions | |
Association football (simply called football) is the most popular sport in Ecuador, in line with the majority of South America.[1][2]
Governing body
The governing body of football in Ecuador is the Ecuadorian Football Federation (Spanish: Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol), also known as FEF or Ecuafútbol. It runs all national football tournaments and manages the national football teams. Its seat is in Guayaquil. In addition, there are 18 provincial association throughout the country.
Club football
Club football is the most popular spectator sport in the country. The top-flight league in the country is the
Regional leagues
The first amateur tournaments in Ecuador were organized by two regional leagues: one in Guayas for clubs in Guayaquil, and one in Pichincha for clubs in Quito and Ambato. Both held their inaugural tournaments in 1922. Both leagues stayed amateur until 1952, when the Guayas league held their first professional tournament. The Pichincha league, called Interandino followed suit in 1954. Both leagues stayed as the top-flight leagues in the country until 1967, when the status of top-flight was ceded to the national tournament.
National tournament
No national tournament existed until 1957 when the winners of both regional championships played against each other for the title. The first national title was won by
International participation
While typically a competitive country, clubs from Ecuador have had little international success. The first club to reach the finals of an international tournament was
National team
The Ecuador national football team is controlled by the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol and represents Ecuador in international football competitions. It was for a long time one of the weaker teams in CONMEBOL, but it has recently had more success, making their first World Cup appearance in 2002, and qualifying again for the 2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cup. In 2006, they advanced to the Round of 16, losing to England by 1–0.[3][4]
Although without any major tournament achievements until the current millennium, Ecuador was never short of footballing talent, producing players such as
+30,000-capacity football stadiums in Ecuador
# | Stadium | Capacity | City | Home team |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo | 59,283[5] | Guayaquil | Barcelona S.C. |
2 | Estadio Modelo Alberto Spencer Herrera | 42,000 | Guayaquil | 9 de Octubre F.C., C.S. Patria, C.D. Everest, Rocafuerte F.C., Panamá S.C. |
3 | Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado | 41,575 | Quito | Ecuador national football team, L.D.U. Quito |
4 | Estadio George Capwell | 40,020 | Guayaquil | C.S. Emelec |
5 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa | 35,742 | Quito | América de Quito, S.D. Quito, C.D. El Nacional, C.D. Universidad Católica del Ecuador |
References
- ^ "Ecuador's World Cup squad brings hope to this poor, Afro-Ecuadorian province". GlobalPost. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- ^ Wyss, Jim. "ESMERALDAS, Ecuador: In the cradle of Ecuadorian soccer, the beach is the fiercest field – Americas". MiamiHerald.com. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- ^ Stark, Harrison (2014-05-27). "Ecuador, 2014: Ecuador once had one of the worst records in South America. What changed?". Slate.com. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- ^ Vickery, Tim (2014-03-03). "Football in Ecuador makes dreams come true | FIFA World Cup : The World Game". Theworldgame.sbs.com.au. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- ^ "Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha (El Coloso del Salado) – StadiumDB.com". stadiumdb.com. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
External links
- Official webpage of FEF (in Spanish)
- Futbol Ecuatoriano Ecuador Futbol