Socceroos had an impressive winter last year, reaching the last-16 stage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, before losing out to eventual champions Argentina.
Australia play host to Ecuador in a friendly match at CommBank Stadium on Friday. Socceroos had an impressive winter last year, reaching the last-16 stage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, before losing out to eventual champions Argentina. Ecuador, on the other hand, gave a good account of themselves at the global event but couldn’t progress to the knockout round, finishing third in the group behind Netherlands and Senegal. Meanwhile these two nations have face each other only once in a friendly almost nine years ago, and the match ended 4-3 in favour of the South Americans.
S̶o̶c̶c̶e̶r̶o̶o̶s̶ ‘Soccerviews’ 🔝☁️
🇦🇺 v 🇪🇨
24.03.23 – CommBank Stadium, Sydney
28.03.23 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
🎟 – https://t.co/C2lT1wcXEe#AUSvECU #Socceroos pic.twitter.com/rRb7ot3jLK— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) March 23, 2023
Australia began their World Cup campaign with a 4-1 defeat to 2018 champions France, before registering back-to-back 1-0 wins against Tunisia and Denmark to enter the round of 16. Graham Arnold’s side secured an upset win over the Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark, courtesy of Mathew Leckie’s lone goal on the hour-mark. In the last-16 stage, first-half efforts from Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez gave a 2-0 lead to Argentina, before the Socceroos pulled one back through Enzo Fernandez’s own goal in the 77th-minute. Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made a crucial save in the stoppage time to deny Garang Kuol and end the run of Socceroos in Qatar. Nevertheless, it was only their second appearances at the knockout stages of the global event and Arnold can be proud of his team. Socceroos have recorded seven wins and two defeats from their last nine outings in all competitions and the two defeats came against France and Argentina in the World Cup.
Ecuador, on the other hand, had an impressive World Cup qualification campaign, finishing fourth in the CONMEBOL table to earn a place in the finals. La Tri defeated hosts Qatar 2-0 in the opening match of the tournament, before playing out a thrilling 1-1 draw against three-time finalists Dutch. The South American nation needed just a point against Senegal in the final group-match to join Australia in the knockouts but Ismaila Sarr’s opener and Kalidou Koulibaly 70th-minute strike fired the Africans into the last-16. Gustavo Alfaro stepped down as manager after the World Cup exit, despite reported efforts from the federation to persuade him to stay. Felix Sanchez, who managed the Qatar team which Ecuador defeated in the tournament opener, was put in charge of La Tri at the start of March.
Australia
Opponents | Score |
Argentina | 2-1 (L) |
Denmark | 1-0 (W) |
Tunisia | 0-1 (W) |
France | 4-1 (L) |
New Zealand | 0-2 (W) |
Ecuador
Opponents | Score |
Senegal | 1-2 (L) |
Netherlands | 1-1 (D) |
Qatar | 0-2 (W) |
Iraq | 0-0 (D) |
Japan | 0-0 (D) |
Last match-result | Score |
Ecuador beat Australia | 3-4 |
The friendly match between Australia and Ecuador will take place at CommBank Stadium on Friday at 2:30 pm IST.
Australia vs Ecuador | Key Details |
Date | March 24 |
Venue | CommBank Stadium |
Kickoff time in Australia | 4:00 am |
Kickoff time in Ecuador | 8:00 pm |
Kickoff time in India | 2:30 pm |
The live telecast of the friendly match will be available on !0 Play and Paramount + in Australia. Besides, those in Ecuador can catch the live action via Star + and Canal de Futbol.