The Uruguayan national team is led by Argentine technical director Marcelo Bielsa In the second game of the South American qualifiers, Ecuador lost 2-1 at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado Stadium in Quito for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
After a comfortable 3-1 win against Chile on debut at the Centenario Stadium, The “Celeste” of the former England coach of Leeds United played their first away game in qualifying and lost to Ecuador 1-2 after winning the game at the start.
For this game, “Loco” changed the scheme, and I went from a 4-3-3 to a 4-5-1 with Agustin Canobbio replacing Facundo Pellistri on the left, Maximiliano Araujo on the right, Nicolás de la Cruz as the hook, and Darwin Nez as the only attacking reference in the Uruguayan team.
For his part, the Spanish coach of the “Tricolor”. Félix Sánchez Bas maintained his tactical approach but made three modifications to the defeat against Argentina in the Monumental: Angelo Preciado for José Hurtado Cheme, Ray Páez for José Cifuentes, and Jhojan Julio for Gonzalo Plata.
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The visiting team scored 38 points in the first half. Maximiliano Araujo looks and runs deep to the right. The Mexican Toluca player put the pass back to Agustin Canobbio, who had all the time in the world to receive with his left foot, turn around, and score with his right foot at the far post to make it 1-0 at the home stadium of the Quito University Sports League.
At the end of the first half, at 49, the Ecuadorians equalized with a Corner kick from the right, taken by Moisés Caicedo. The Chelsea footballer scored an Excellent cross on the border between the small and large areas, allowing Félix Torres to rise and powerfully equalize the score before the end of the first 45 minutes.
Already in the second part, after 5 minutes, Pervis Estupian passed Nahitan Nández in the penalty area, who took a penalty while trying to stop him. End of Valencia took advantage of the opportunity that the “Tricolore” had, but He missed it by shooting the ball wide to the left of Sergio Rochet’s goal as it slipped to the right.
Ecuador took the lead with a combination of 16 and 16 Moisés Caicedo, who, with two marks, saw him overtake Ray Páez and left him to pass calmly. The 16-year-old debutant scored the first goal, allowing Félix Torres to beat Sergio Rochet and make the final score 2-1 for the Ecuadorians, who achieved their first three points.
At the next date of the South American Qualifiers, at the beginning of October, Marcelo Bielsa’s team will visit Colombia; the venue is still to be determined, while those of Félix Sánchez Bas will visit Bolivia in La Paz.
