Third DFB opponent
©IMAGO
As the last group opponent of the German national team, Ecuador has announced the 26-man squad for the World Cup. In addition to Stuttgart’s Jeremy Arévalo (21), Hamburg native John Yeboah (25) also made it into national coach Sebastián Beccacece’s final squad.
The team’s top stars are Moisés Caicedo (24, Chelsea), who is one of the 15 most valuable players in the world with a market value of 110 million euros, as well as Willian Pacho (24, PSG) and Piero Hincapié (24, Arsenal), who faced each other in the Champions League final on Saturday. Together, the trio makes up a good two-thirds of La Tri’s squad value.
With 366 million euros, Ecuador ranks in the upper midfield of the World Cup participants, just behind the USA (367 million euros) and ahead of Switzerland (331 million euros). In Group E, the DFB team (998 million euros) and the Ivory Coast (526 million euros) are ahead of the South Americans, who have been unbeaten since September 2024 and confidently secured a World Cup ticket in second place despite losing a point and conceding only five goals.
On the offensive, hopes lie with veteran star Enner Valencia (36), who wants to further expand his goal tally in his third World Cup participation. In 2014 and 2022, when the preliminary round ended with four points, Valencia scored three times each. Among the nominated players, only Lionel Messi (38, 13 goals), Kylian Mbappé (27, twelve goals), Neymar (34, eight goals), Harry Kane (32, eight goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo (41, eight goals) can boast more World Cup goals.
On Sunday (10 p.m.) Ecuador will play its last World Cup test against Guatemala in Columbus. Almost a week later, Ivory Coast will be the first opponent in Group E on June 14th (1 a.m.). After the duel with Curaçao (June 21st), there will be a final meeting with the DFB team (June 25th). There have been two defeats in two games against Germany so far: Ecuador lost 3-0 at the 2006 World Cup and 4-2 in a friendly in 2013.
