14 days to the World Cup: Ecuador stifles Poland in 2006 to kick off historic campaign

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The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.

Ecuador is back in the tournament, and while the small South American country may seem like an unexpected dark horse, the team’s past World Cup history points to the kind of impact they could make this summer.

La Tricolor is a relative newcomer to the tournament, making five appearances since its first in 2002. But in 2006, the nation put up a World Cup run to remember, making the knockout stage after picking up wins over Costa Rica and Poland.

Ecuador opened the group stage with a 2-0 win over Poland that not only secured their berth in the knockout, but set the tone for the rest of group stage play. In front of a very Poland-friendly crowd in Germany, Poland controlled more than 50% of possession throughout the game, getting numerous chances in the box, but Ecuador’s defense and keeper Cristian Mora held strong.

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Carlos Tenorio scored Ecuador’s first goal in the 24th minute, hitting the header off a long throw-in. And then in the 80th minute, Agustin Delgado iced the win after he and Iván Kaviedes beat the Polish back line.

With the goals anchoring victory, the win was a stellar defensive performance from Ecuador. Poland had 11 corner kicks, but still couldn’t find the back of the net. Mora finished the game with six saves, and Ecuador passed through one of the harder challenges of the group stage with ease.

Next up was a dominant 3-0 win over Costa Rica that ended up clinching a spot in the knockout round. Ecuador lost 3-0 to host nation Germany, which finished first in the group and went on to win third place, but it didn’t matter to the final Group A standings — Ecuador was already through.

Ecuador went on to lose 1-0 to England in the Round of 16, with David Beckham breaking the stalemate in the 80th minute.

Ecuador couldn’t recreate that magic upon returning to the World Cup in 2014 and 2022. However, this summer might be another big shot for Ecuador, which comes into the tournament with a track record of the same kind of stifling defense that took it to the knockout round 20 years ago.

Across 18 World Cup qualifying games over the past three years, Ecuador allowed only five goals against some high-level opponents; it defeated Argentina, drew with Brazil and picked up a win and a draw against Uruguay. While currently No. 23 in the men’s FIFA rankings, Ecuador has the potential to thrive in a group with Germany (once again), Curaçao and Ivory Coast.

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