While the Dutch country required late goals to get past Senegal 2-0, Ecuador got the better of host nation Qatar in a comfortable fashion.
The Netherlands will be looking to win their second successive game in Group A of the FIFA World Cup when they take on Ecuador. The contest on Friday will see two teams that won their opening matches in their group taking on each other. While the Dutch country required late goals to get past Senegal 2-0, Ecuador got the better of host nation Qatar in a comfortable fashion. Thus both sides will be heading into this contest filled with confidence. Even though the Europeans will be the favourites on paper, the South American nation and their potential cannot be underestimated.
Netherlands vs Ecuador | Key details |
Date | November 25 |
Venue | Khalifa International Stadium |
Kickoff time in India | 9:30 pm |
Kickoff time in Netherlands | 5 pm |
Kickoff time in Ecuador | 11 am |
Kickoff time in Qatar | 7 pm |
Louis van Gaal’s side are one of the most exciting countries to keep an eye out for in this tournament with many believing they could end up being the dark horse. Prior to the World Cup, the Netherlands topped League A Group 4 of the Nations League. It was not an easy group by any stretch of the imagination as they also had Belgium in it. However, the Dutch nation defeated Belgium home and away to finish with 16 points from six matches. Meanwhile, Ecuador have been largely inconsistent in the build-up to the World Cup. Before facing Qatar, they were involved in three successive goalless draws. In the World Cup qualifiers, they finished fourth with 26 points from 18 games and did not win any of their last four matches.
Read More – Netherlands vs Ecuador: Records, Stats, Goals, Head to Head & everything to know
There are not too many injury concerns both countries have to deal with ahead of this contest. All the question marks were over Memphis Depay’s participation in the opener. He did not start the game against Senegal but came on as a second-half substitute. Hence, it will be interesting to see if he can start on Friday. Besides, there are also question marks over the fitness of Marten de Roon. Meanwhile, Ecuador will be sweating over the fitness situation of Enner Valencia, who scored both goals in the opener against Qatar. He is expected to shake it off and start on Friday.
Netherlands possible line-up: Noppert, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake, Dumfries, F de Jong, Berghuis, Blind, Gakpo, Janssen, Bergwijn
Ecuador possible line-up: Galindez, Preciado, Torres, Hincapie, Estupinan, Plata, Mendez, Caicedo, Ibarra, Valencia, Estrada
Netherlands
Opponents | Score |
Senegal | 3-3 |
Belgium | 1-0 (L) |
Poland | 0-4 (L) |
Wales | 0-0 |
Poland | 1-1 |
Ecuador
Opponents | Score |
Qatar | 0-2 (L) |
Iraq | 1-0 (W) |
Japan | 1-1 |
Saudi Arabia | 0-1 (W) |
Cape Verde | 2-1 (L) |
All competitions | Results |
Netherlands draw Ecuador | 1-1 |
Netherlands beat Ecuador | 1-0 |
The FIFA World Cup match between Netherlands and Ecuador will take place at Khalifa International Stadium on Thursday at 9:30 pm IST.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar can be seen on Sports18 – 1 SD & HD – in India. Sports 18 will be telecasting the games on the regular and HD Channels. Besides, Viacom18 Sports announced that JioCinema will live-stream all the World Cup games. Moreover, the match between Netherlands and Ecuador can be seen on NPO Start, NPO 1, Canvas in the Netherlands; and DIRECTV Sports Ecuador, CNT Play, DIRECTV Sports App, Canal del Futbol, Teleamazonas in Ecuador.