Experienced manager Gustavo Alfaro will lead Ecuador at World Cup 2022, after overseeing an impressive qualifying campaign where La Tri finished fourth in the notoriously tough South American group.
The Argentine has been in the job since August 2020, and during the qualification process Ecuador earned seven wins and five draws to finish two points above the play-off spot, ensuring that the likes of Colombia and Chile failed to make the cut.
Alfaro’s side line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with strikers Michael Estrada and Enner Valencia providing the goal threat. Estrada was Ecuador’s top scorer in qualifying with six strikes, two more than Valencia.
Goals weren’t in short supply, as the South Americans netted 27 in 18 matches, a record only bettered by runaway group winners Brazil.
Since becoming Ecuador manager, Gustavo Alfaro has overseen Ecuador’s rise from 64th in the FIFA ranking to their current position of No.44 with an overall win rate that sits just below 50 per cent.
The 60-year-old has been around the block, too; the Ecuador job is the 17th of a long managerial career that started 30 years ago. He’s perhaps best known for his remarkable achievements over two spells in charge of Arsenal de Sarandi.
In the first, he lifted the 2007 Copa Sudamericana – the first major title in the club’s history - and in the second he clinched the club’s first ever league title.
Alfaro was then elevated to one of the biggest jobs in Argentinian football in January 2019 when he was appointed boss of Boca Juniors, where he won the Super Cup. Within a season he was gone, though, taking over his first international managerial job with Ecuador.
Gustavo Alfaro will face a tricky World Cup 2022 test with Ecuador in Group A, facing hosts Qatar in the opening game of the tournament on 20 November, before crucial clashes with the Netherlands and Senegal.
