Ecuador and Brazil have been two of the best teams in South American qualifying for the World Cup, but they will be motivated by very different objectives when they meet on Thursday at the White House (Rodrigo Paz Delgado Stadium) in Quito.
Brazil (1st, 35 points) has already secured one of the four direct places to Qatar 2022 on offer in South America. Now, the five-time world champions want to maintain their place as the region’s best-performing team during qualifying and keep their undefeated record intact. The game is an opportunity to fine-tune the squad 10 months before the World Cup and give other players a chance.
Ecuador (3rd, 23 points) cannot take their foot off the pedal. La Tri are in a strong position to secure a place in Qatar and a win at home against Brazil would bring them much closer with just three matches remaining. It would mark Ecuador’s fourth World Cup place in the last six editions.
MORE: Updated CONMEBOL standings, results and schedule
Sporting News will follow the World Cup qualifier live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
Ecuador vs Brazil live score
| 1 hour | 2H | Final | |
| Ecuador | 0 | one | — |
| Brazil | one | 0 | — |
Goals:
BRA – Casemiro – 5th min.
ECU – Felix Torres (Gonzalo Plata) – 75th min.
(All times Eastern)
minute 78: SUBS AND YELLOW — Ecuadorian Moises Caicedo receives a yellow card. And Gabigol enters the match for Matheus Cunha. Brazil’s entire three-man front line has been traded. Tite wants to win.
minute 75: Ecuador goal! It is the central Félix Torres, with a set piece of course. On the corner kick from the right wing, Torres heads on goal.
minute 71: YELLOW – Ecuador’s captain, Enner Valencia, enters the book for trampling Dani Alves. Brazil is in control now. Ecuador is just having a weird moment here and there. The Tri cannot manufacture any sustained pressure. It is Brazil after all.
minute 67: SUBS — It’s Ecuador’s turn. Ayrton Preciado and Romario Caicedo are in for Carlos Gruezo and Angelo Preciado.
minute 63: SUBS — Vinicius Jr. and Raphinha give way to Antony and Gabriel Jesus.
minute 57: It looks like a clear penalty, but the referee looks at it on the monitor and decides not to call it! It is not obvious what clear and obvious mistake the VAR pointed out in that instance. It is not clear what the reasons were for rescinding the sentence. This game is crazy.
55th minute: Penalty for Ecuador! Brazil’s Raphinha runs over Ecuadorian left-back Estupinan, who dribbled inside the area. It’s a cold-blooded penalty.
minute 54: Ecuador wants to get the ball into the net and Alisson from Brazil picks it up. Gonzalo Plata made a slalom towards the area, but his teammate Michael Estrada was unable to finish off Alisson in a one-on-one.
50th minute: Casemiro from Brazil with a great chance on a set piece and his volley from close range goes wide. He couldn’t hit the target. You already have a goal for the day.
minute 49: Ecuador scores, but is disallowed! The assistant referee points out that the ball went over the baseline before the cross entered from the left. This is going to be an entertaining half.
minute 46: The second half begins and Ecuador wins a corner kick in the first seconds. But Pervis Estupinan slips when taking the corner and the ball goes out of play. Promising start.
Half: Ecuador 0, Brazil 1
Halftime: That was a wild first half. First Ecuador has a great opportunity in the first two minutes, then Brazil scores in a messy play that was a reflection of this game. Then we saw three red cards (one annulled), five yellow cards (all for Brazil), 10 minutes of injury time and two karate shots from each goalkeeper.
52+ min: Ecuadorian central defender Félix Torres sends a shot from distance that Alisson saves. And at the other end Matheus Cunha starts one that narrowly passes the left post. Brazil closer to a second there.
48+ min: YELLOW — And another card for the Brazilian Eder Militao for a foul on Moises Caicedo. Ecuador with another set piece play into the area, sends for a corner, but nothing comes of it. Ecuador is not very effective at set pieces so far.
46+ min: There is a 10 minute discount in the first half. It tells you what kind of first half we had. Stop start, two instances of VAR and many cards.
minute 42: YELLOW — More cards than chances in this game. The Brazilian Raphinha is booked for blocking a promising attack. And the Ecuadorian Enner Valencia has another free header on the set piece into the area, but the ball was behind him and was also out of play.
minute 39: Gonzalo Plata falls in the Brazilian area in a tackle by the Selecao’s left back, Alex Sandro, and that was the limit. He let go too easily, but it was close. No penalty for the referee.
Minute 33: SUB — Brazil incorporates Dani Alves to play right back and replaces Philippe Coutinho. It is Alves’ 120th international match.
minute 31: Common sense prevails after the VAR. The Colombian main referee, Wilmar Roldan, checks it on the monitor and gives Alisson a yellow card and cancels the previously shown red card.
minute 26: Third red card! Alisson is already out. The Liverpool goalkeeper steps off his line, kicks the ball, and then that leg hits Enner Valencia on follow-up. This one looks tough. Brazil has been reduced to nine men. Wild start.
Minute 20: The referee just handed out another red card! This one goes to Brazilian right back Emerson after a wild tackle: high leg between the legs of Ecuador forward Michael Estrada. It was Emerson’s second yellow. He had received his first yellow card in the opening minute of the match.
minute 18: SUB — Ecuador brings Hernán Galíndez and takes out a midfielder (Alan Franco). And Coutinho sends the free kick opportunity over the crossbar.
Minute 15: What a disastrous start for Ecuador and Domínguez bears the weight of responsibility here. His heels made their way to the neck of Matheus Cunha and left a mark.
minute 13: What is Dominguez doing? After that bad play in the Brazilian goal, the Ecuadorian goalkeeper goes off his line and karate kicks Matheus Cunha with a provocation that sent his studs to Cunha’s chest. Domínguez could be expelled. The referee is looking at the monitor now.
minute 12: Brazil’s goal sucked the energy out of the half-full stadium. Ecuador has to show some personality to come back to this. Another goal from Brazil could really kill the game.
5th minute: Brazil goal! At the other end the visitors win a corner and after a couple of shots Casemiro clears the rebound after a Matheus Cunha header. Ecuadorian goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez did not command his area well in that instance, starting with a weak shot.
2nd min.: What an opportunity for Ecuador! After the kick-off, Ecuador wins a free kick on the left side and on the set piece Enner Valencia had a free header on goal and incredibly missed the goal. It was completely unchecked.
16:01: First Coutinho returned to star in the Premier League and now he returns to Brazil. What a change!
471 – Philippe Coutinho will play for Brazil 471 days after his last match for the National Team (4-2 victory against Peru in October 2020). It was his longest interval without playing for Brazil under Tite. Return. pic.twitter.com/lpvgeD0pae
-OptaJoao (@OptaJoao) January 27, 2022
16:00: The White House is half full today, but it’s still loud:
15:13: A little taste of Quito and the arrival of the home team for the game:
Lineups of Ecuador vs Brazil
Brazil coach Tite is without Neymar, who is still working to return to full fitness due to an ankle injury. Lucas Paquetá and Fabinho are suspended and starting right back Danilo was not called up. But when you’re Brazil, you have plenty of backup options: Aston Villa’s Philippe Coutinho and Tottenham’s Emerson Royal are the stand-ins.
Brazil starting lineup (4-3-3, left to right): 1-Alisson — 6-Alex Sandro, 3-Thiago Silva, 14-Eder Militao, 2-Emerson Royal — 5-Casemiro (captain), 11-Philippe Coutinho, 8-Fred — 20-Vinicius Jr, 7-Matheus Cunha, 19-Rafina
Substitutes from Brazil (12): 23-Ederson (PO), 12-Weverton (PO), 13-Dani Alves, 16-Alex Telles, 4-Marquinhos, 22-Gabriel, 15-Bruno Guimaraes, 17-Gerson, 10-Everton Ribeiro, 21-Gabriel Barbosa , 18-Anthony, 9-Gabriel Jesus
The list selected by the Ecuadorian coach Gustavo Alfaro has several players who are on the other side of the positive tests for COVID-19. Goalkeeper Pedro Ortiz, Jackson Porozo, José Cifuentes, Janner Corozo and Ángel Mena were not part of the 23-player list on Ecuador’s expanded roster. Mena was in doubt due to a blow received in an action with the Lion of his club.
Ecuador starting eleven (4-4-2, from left to right): 22-Alexander Dominguez (GK) — 7-Pervis Estupinan, 3-Piero Hincapie, 2-Felix Torres, 17-Angelo Preciado — 23-Moises Caicedo, 8-Carlos Gruezo, 21-Alan Franco, 19-Gonzalo Plata — 13- Enner Valencia (capt.), 11-Michael Estrada
Alternates from Ecuador (12): 1-Hernan Galindez (GK), 12-Moises Ramírez (GK), 4-Robert Arboleda, 14-Xavier Arreaga, 5-Diego Palacios, 6-Romario Caicedo, 20-Jhegson Méndez, 16-Michael Carcelen, 10-Joao Rojas , 18-Ayrton Preciado, 15-Djorkaeff Reasco, 9-Jordy Caicedo
How to watch Ecuador vs Brazil
- Date: Thursday, January 27
- Hour: 4 p.m. ET
- Television channel: —
- Transmission: fuboTV
The South American World Cup qualifiers are available exclusively on fuboTV in the United States .
Ecuador’s Estadio Rodrigo Paz, popularly known as the White House, will be at 50 percent capacity for the match after a change of heart from local health officials who originally ordered the match to be played without spectators.
Ecuador vs. betting odds Brazil
Odds courtesy of DraftKings
- money line: Ecuador +245 / Draw +215 / Brazil +130
- Spread: Ecuador +0.5 (-160) / Brazil -0.5 (+125)
- O/U 2.5 total goals: Over +170 / Under -215
- Both teams score: Yes +120 / No -155
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