The Ecuadorian dream is turning into a nightmare. At Kansas City Stadium, La Tri could only manage a goalless draw against Curaçao, a first-time World Cup nation, leaving them with a single point after two group-stage matches. Head coach Sebastián Beccacece was loudly booed at full-time and took full responsibility for a result that has sent shockwaves across South America.
Ecuador certainly did not lack for chances. It was the hands of Eloy Room that ultimately decided the contest: the Curaçao goalkeeper produced an extraordinary 15 saves, a record figure in World Cup history. Wave after wave of Ecuadorian attempts were repelled, exposing a clinical inefficiency that had already proved costly in the defeat to Ivory Coast on matchday one.
La Tri had arrived at this tournament with genuine ambitions — Willian Pacho, Moisés Caicedo, Piero Hincapié among others, an squad with enough quality to dream of a run echoing Morocco's 2022 campaign. Two matches without a win later, the picture could hardly look bleaker. Only one path remains: beat Germany in the final group fixture to keep their last-16 hopes alive. A monumental ask for a side that expected to be looking upward, but now finds itself staring into the abyss.
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