2026 World Cup: Ecuador vs. Curaçao, Probable Lineups

Ecuador and Curaçao—the two teams still with zero points in Group E at the 2026 World Cup—are set to face off in a true do-or-die match to stay in contention for the Round of 16. La Tricolor and the Blue Wave will face off late Saturday night into Sunday morning at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City—7 p.m. in Missouri and 2 a.m. in Italy. The match will be officiated by Ma Ning, a referee from the Asian Football Confederation.

Ecuador, defeated 1-0 by Ivory Coast after conceding the decisive goal to Diallo in the 90th minute, confirmed a trend evident in the qualifiers: their difficulty in finding the back of the net: in the 18 matches of the CONMEBOL zone, the Ecuadorian national team scored just 14 goals, but drew immense strength from a defense that conceded only 5 goals—a statistic that contributed to their surprising second-place finish. Against Curaçao, the goal is to get back on the scoreboard and exploit their attacking play with greater conviction.

For Curaçao, just being at the World Cup is a joy in itself, and the 7-1 loss to Germany was not viewed as a tragedy on the Caribbean island. Once the initial shock has passed, however, the team coached by Dick Advocaat will at least try to avoid another rout, seeking to capitalize once again on the enthusiasm typical of first-time participants. This is also because, until proven otherwise, the dream of advancing in the World Cup hasn’t faded and would certainly be reignited in the event of a positive result.

Probable Lineups

ECUADOR (4-4-2): Galindez; Preciado, Pacho, Ordóñez, Hincapié; Caicedo, Franco; Yeboah, Vite, Plata; Valencia. Head Coach: Beccacece.

CURAÇAO (4-3-3): Room; Floranus, Bazoer, Obispo, Fonville; Commencia, L. Bacuna, J. Bacuna; Chong, Locadia, Hansen. Head Coach: Advocaat.