Australia vs Ecuador

CommBank Stadium is the venue as Australia and Ecuador go head-to-head in an exciting inter-confederation international friendly.

Australia’s upcoming double-header against Ecuador in Sydney and Melbourne marks their first outing since their best result at the World Cup finals. The pair of meetings against Ecuador has been promoted as the “Welcome Home” series, which kicks off the Sooceroos’ journey to North America in 2026. Graham Arnold will continue as coach for the next five years after signing a new contract that stretches until the end of the showpiece event in 2026. Arnold’s first assignment is to ensure the continuation of Australia’s six straight scoring appearances, which include their run to the 2022 World Cup round of 16, where they lost 2-1 to Argentina. Additionally, they’ll be seeking a win against South American opposition in regulation time for the first time since 2010 (D3, L5), having most recently advanced to the last World Cup through penalties against Peru (0-0).

On the other hand, Ecuador kicked off their 2022 World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over host nation Qatar but went winless in the next two group-stage outings (D1, L1) despite scoring on each occasion. A 2-1 loss to Senegal on the final matchday resulted in a heartbreaking group-stage exit, leading to the sacking of long-serving manager Gustavo Alfaro. Despite Qatar’s abysmal World Cup showings, manager Felix Sanchez Bas, who was at the helm, has landed a long-term contract at ‘La Tri’ after the tournament. Sanchez’s touchline debut takes Ecuador outside South America again as they look to maintain an impressive run of one defeat in their last nine internationals outside their continent (W3, D5). But with only nine goals scored and conceded across those nine games, a low-scoring theme could highlight the upcoming contest at the CommBank Stadium.