World Cup: Brazil is Standing in Ecuador’s Way

Ecuador vs Brazil

All roads lead to the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado on Thursday when World Cup: Ecuador vs Brazil is the entertainment on offer… and this is a big deal for the hosts. 

The CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers have been a breeze for Brazil who have already qualified with 35 points from 13 games while Ecuador have an excellent chance of joining them in Qatar, currently in third place on 23 points and with a six point cushion over fifth placed Peru. 

But, of course, Tite’s Brazil is one of the best teams in world football, second in the FIFA rankings and no less than 44 places above Gustavo Alfaro’s Ecuador. The visitors have a few players missing but they have riches in depth and will test their hosts to the full. A defeat for Ecuador wouldn’t be a disaster but if they can get something from this game they will keep their course to Qatar on track.      

Talking Points

Ecuador are no longer underestimated 

La Tri have become a very competitive team under head coach Alfaro as they have shown with a series of impressive results over the past six months. A draw with Colombia and a friendly victory over Mexico was bettered by a superb 2-0 win over star studded Chile,; though they were helped by the dismissal of La Roja’s midfield enforcer Arturo Vidal. Villarreal’s 24 year old wing back Pervis Estupian opened the scoring and

Brighton’s young midfielder Moises Caicedo made it 2-0 deep into injury time. The talented 20 year old already has 17 international caps and two goals and he looks to have a bright future in international and Premier League football.

The old man of the team, Fenerbahce’s 32 year old striker Enner Valencia, is still banging them in with 34 goals from 67 international games; he has three so far in this competition but is being outdone by Toluca’s 25 year old striker Michael Estrada who is top scoring with five goals

Brazil squad men are playing for places

The Selecao are on the way to Qatar and they’ll be one of the favourites when they get there, no doubt, but they still have five CONMEBOL qualifiers to play and that gives Tite ample opportunity to fine tune his team. He has two top class keepers to choose from; Manchester City’s Ederson is at the top of his game, while Alisson is a key player in Liverpool’s team. The Reds had a tricky meeting away to Crystal Palace at the weekend and that was a decent workout for the stopper. He was a busy man as the Eagles fought hard to get back into the game before succumbing 3-1.  

Chelsea’s Thiago Silva could well start at the back alongside Real Madrid’s Eder Militao, who was on target for Los Blancos at the weekend; and Militao’s club team-mate Casemiro will surely run the midfield. But there could also be a place for Aston Villa’s new signing Philippe Coutinho, who is hoping to rediscover his best form on a return to the Premier League. 

Vinicius Junior makes up the Los Blancos three and he’s likely to start up front, while with no Neymar or Roberto Firmino in the Brazil squad, there is another chance for Raphinha to stake his claim for a place. He was in electric form in Leeds’ encounter with Newcastle on Saturday and is fast becoming one of the hottest prospects in the Premier League. With two goals already in qualifying, he’ll be keen to take any chances which come his way.

History

While Brazil are five times World Cup winners, Ecuador first showed up at the finals in 2002 and have since appeared twice, reaching the Round of 16 in 2006.  

Both teams are in good shape; la Tri are six games unbeaten since a 2-1 reversal to Venezuela in October, while Brazil are unbeaten in seven since their Copa America final loss to Argentina back in July.   

The Selecao has enjoyed the better of the head to head Ecuador vs Brazil results, winning nine of the last 13 meetings while drawing three and losing just once. The last time the teams met a 1-1 draw was the outcome in the 2021 Copa America, a result which ended Brazil’s ten match winning sequence. Militao headed Brazil into the lead but Angel Mena latched on to a Valencia flick on to fire in the equaliser.

Brazil won the three previous meetings with Ecuador, scoring seven goals without conceding.  

Betting Tip

	Ecuador vs Brazil	1X2 Draw Brazil @ 2.97
	January 28, 5:00 (GMT+8)

At a price of 3.11 the Ecuador vs Brazil betting odds give the hosts a fair chance of getting the three points while the Selecao is at SBOTOP odds of 2.21. Brazil are unbeaten in their last 23 away games and have won five and drawn two on the road in this competition, so while a home win is unlikely, a draw certainly isn’t.    

 

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