- With Venezuela already qualified, Ecuador and Mexico are in direct competition for the second qualification spot in the group for the knockout rounds.
- The South Americans play for a draw to secure qualification.
Sunday, June 30, has the air of a final for Ecuador vs. Mexico, a match that ends the participation of both teams in the Group Stage of this CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™. The teams will compete directly to qualify for the Quarterfinals of the competition at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, starting at 5 p.m. local time – 6 p.m. Mexico, 7 p.m. from Ecuador and 9 p.m. from Brasília (Brazil). The match is, without a doubt, one of the great attractions in this third round of the Group Stage.
It's fair to say that Ecuador arrive with renewed spirits, thanks to their solid 3-1 win over Jamaica in the previous round. Félix Sánchez's men made the best of the first half, taking a 2-0 lead at half-time and scoring a late goal through Alan Minda to seal the scoring. With the situation disputed in the group, the Ecuadorians are adding goals (4 so far) and hope to achieve a great result in Arizona. Ecuador's captain and top scorer, Enner Valencia returns to the team after serving a suspension against the Jamaicans.
On the opposite side, Mexico arrives for this decision with the same score as its opponent (3 points), but one position below due to the tiebreaker criteria. In other words, only a victory gives El Tri the qualification to the Quarterfinals of this edition, requiring a better offensive efficiency on the part of Jaime Lozano's team. The Mexicans piled up chances to equalize the score against Venezuela, in the last round, but were stopped in a memorable performance by Rafael Romo. They finished the match with one of the highest xG (expected goals) for a team so far in this edition (2.88), including a missed late penalty. More decisive finishing of the likes of Santiago Giménez will be one of the key points for the duel.
Leaders Venezuela face already-eliminated Jamaica in the other Group B match, which runs parallel to Ecuador-Mexico, needing a simple draw to secure first place. Therefore, a lot of offensiveness and bravery is to be expected in this clash between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF this weekend.
Where to watch Mexico vs. Ecuador live?
The match kicks off at 5 p.m. local time (Pacific Time, GMT-7) – 6 p.m. Mexico City (Mexico) and 7 p.m. Quito (Ecuador). The match will be broadcast on the following channels and streaming services:
- In Mexico: Canal 5, TUDN, VIX, TV Azteca.
- In Ecuador: TV Ecuavisa, DirecTV.
- In the United States: Univision, Unimás, TUDN, Fox, FS1, FS2.
- In Canada: RDS, TSN, TSN+.
Mexico vs. Ecuador: history in the CONMEBOL Copa América™
The teams have faced each other on 5 occasions in the history of the competition: the first match took place in the 1993 edition, and the last in 2015. The Mexicans won 3 times (and scored 8 goals), the Ecuadorians 1 time, and one match ended in a draw. The CONCACAF team scored 8 goals in these matches against 5 for the CONMEBOL team.
The last 5 results between the teams (all competitions):
Mexico 0-0 Ecuador – Friendly (2022)
Mexico 2-3 Ecuador – Friendly (2021)
Mexico 3-2 Ecuador – Friendly (2019)
Mexico 1-2 Ecuador – CONMEBOL Copa América™ (2015)
Mexico 1-0 Ecuador – Friendly (2015)
Key Facts
- Ecuador is the team against which Mexico has the best record, considering only opponents against whom they have played at least five matches in CONMEBOL Copa América™, with 3 wins in 5 matches (60% wins) – the other teams that meet this requirement are Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.
- Against Mexico, Ecuador is looking to win two games in a row at CONMEBOL Copa América™ for the first time since the 1977 edition (2-0 against Paraguay, 2-1 against Chile). La Tri has won two of its last three games against Concacaf opponents in the tournament (it was defeated in the third), including a game against Mexico in 2015 (won 2-1).
- Mexico has one win in their last 10 games against South American rivals ar CONMEBOL Copa América™ (3-6). In addition, the Mexicans have not scored in their last two games against CONMEBOL opponents in the tournament (0-7 against Chile in 2016 and 0-1 against Venezuela in 2024).
- El Tri has 38 shots on goal in its first two games (19 per game, on average), more than any other team in Group B of this CONMEBOL Copa América™. There are 14 different players who have finished for the national team, with Luis Chávez (6) and Julián Quiñones (5) as the leaders in this regard.
- Ecuador's Kendry Páez and Venezuela's Salomón Rondón are the Group B players with the most shots in the first two rounds of the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa América™(8). They each scored a goal in the tournament, both from the penalty spot.
Probable lineups
Mexico: Julio González; Jorge Sánchez, César Montes (C), Johan Vazquéz, Gerardo Arteaga; Luis Romo, Luis Chávez, Uriel Antuna, Carlos Rodríguez (Orbelín Pineda), Julián Quiñones, Santiago Gímenez.
Coach: Jaime Lozano.
Ecuador: Alexander Domínguez; Ángelo Preciado, Félix Torres, Willian Pacho, Piero Hincapié; Moisés Caicedo, Alan Franco, John Yeboah, Kendry Páez, Jeremy Sarmiento; Enner Valencia.
Coach: Félix Sánchez.
Referee appointments
Referee: Mario Escobar (Guatemala)
Assistant referees: Luis Ventura (Guatemala) and Brooke Mayo (United States)
Fourth official: M. Victoria Penso (United States)
VAR: Silvio Trucco (Argentina)
Match information
Match: Mexico v Ecuador (Group B, Third Round)
Date and time: June 30, 2024, at 5 p.m. local time – 6 p.m. in Mexico, 7 p.m. in Ecuador
Venue: State Farm Stadium – Glendale, Arizona
