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Ecuador and Côte d'Ivoire will face off this Sunday in a historic match for both teams, when they meet at the for the first round of the .
It is the first time that these two teams meet in a World Cup, making the match a historic debut for both nations.
is competing in its fifth World Cup and the second in a row, aiming to match or surpass its best historical performance: the round of 16 reached in 2006, when it lost to England.
La Tri arrives backed by a very solid qualifying campaign: it finished second in CONMEBOL behind Argentina, matching its best historical performance in qualifiers and achieving its best run since 2002.
The great Ecuadorian strength was its defense: it conceded just five goals in 18 matches, the lowest record in the entire South American qualifiers and the best since CONMEBOL adopted the single table format after the 1994 World Cup.
Among the figures of the team stands out Willian Pacho, who on May 30 became the first Ecuadorian to win the UEFA Champions League, with Paris Saint-Germain against Arsenal in Budapest.
The defender was also the only outfield player to play every minute of the South American qualifiers: 1,620 minutes in 18 matches.
In attack, the main reference remains Enner Valencia, who scored six of Ecuador's last seven goals in World Cups —three in 2014 and three in 2022— and participated in more than half of the Tri's goals during the qualifying rounds for this tournament.
The match will also mark the World Cup debut of Sebastián Beccacece as the head coach, although the Argentine has already experienced two World Cups as an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli: in 2014 with Chile and in 2018 with Argentina, both eliminated in the Round of 16.
returns to the World Cup for the first time since 2014 and is making its fourth appearance, with a clear goal: to break the historical barrier of never having advanced past the group stage.
The African team arrives with one of the best credentials from the qualifiers: it was one of only two selections from the African Football Confederation, alongside Tunisia, that did not concede any goals during the qualification process, finishing first in its group with eight wins and two draws.
Offensive variety was another one of their hallmarks: fifteen different players scored during the qualifiers, more than any other team participating in the tournament.
The coach Emerse Faé will lead his first World Cup, although he already has significant achievements under his belt with the team: he guided Ivory Coast to the title of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and reached the quarter-finals in the 2025 edition.
However, the Ivorians have an outstanding account against South American rivals in World Cups: they lost all three of their previous encounters against CONMEBOL teams, with defeats against Argentina in 2006, Brazil in 2010, and Colombia in 2014.
With two teams boasting very strong profiles and no prior history between them, this afternoon's match in Philadelphia is shaping up to be one of the most enticing of the opening day, in a Group E where every point can be crucial in the battle to advance to the next round.
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