The selection of Ecuador was imposed this Tuesday 2-1 To Uruguay With a brace from central defender Félix Torres, he surpassed Agustín Canobbio’s first goal, but he still does not enter the classification table due to the Byron Castillo case, which allowed La Tri to qualify for the 2026 World Cup with -3 points.
Ecuador ended the second day of the South American qualifiers with 0 points, while Uruguay had the 3 points achieved thanks to its 3-1 victory over Chile in the first game, with a compact and versatile game that it could not repeat at the climax Quito . Torres’ brace also underlined the figure of Ecuadorian coach, Spaniard Félix Sánchez Bas, and his commitment to playing with three central defenders, which had attracted some criticism, while his rival Marcelo Bielsa suffered his first defeat as coach of the Celeste.
Unlike the game against Argentina, where they lost 1-0 on matchday one, Ecuador, as expected, took the initiative at home and at the request of Sánchez, who was right with the changes in the starting eleven, bringing on Kendry Páez and Jhojan Julio and Angelo Preciado. Páez, author of the assist for Torres’ second goal, shone with his own light. At the age of 16, he made his debut for the Ecuadorian national team with the confidence that has distinguished him in the smaller divisions and that recently led Chelsea to sign him and loan him out to Independiente del Valle until he came of age.
The local team was the one that applied the most pressure to achieve victory and was close to taking the lead on the scoreboard with two strong low shots from Énner Valencia and Ángelo Preciado, which Uruguayan goalkeeper Sergio Rochet sent to the corner go. Uruguay, on the other hand, struggled to string together their attacking moves as Nicolás De la Cruz struggled to find space, and when they had the least amount of attacking play, their goal came after a pass from Maximiliano Araújo, who handled the ball Canobbiowho immediately scored his first goal in the light blue jersey.
However, Ecuador knew how to react quickly to the cold water, and when it looked like Uruguay would have the advantage at half-time, Towers He equalized from a corner in the last gasp of the first half.
La Tri came back determined in the second half, something they could have done in the 51st minute a missed penalty by Énner Valencia, who sent the ball over the three posts even though Rochet had gone the other way. The missed penalty did not discourage the Ecuadorians, who scored their goal a few minutes later, in the 61st minute, in a convoluted play that Páez unlocked with his innate talent to put the ball in the pot and direct it into the net again . Towers.
Except in the last game, despite the injuries and physical ailments of Arboleda and Preciado, Ecuador did not suffer too much to maintain the lead that had cost them so much and ended the first double qualifying round with a good taste in the mouth of Uruguay He showed two very different faces as a local and as a visitor.