While Switzerland entered that fixture against the eventual champions in South Africa four years ago as huge underdogs, Ottmar Hitzfeld's men will be considered favourites for their opening Group E clash this weekend.
The Swiss have stormed into the top 10 of the FIFA rankings, currently sitting sixth thanks to an unbeaten qualifying campaign, and begin the World Cup as the highest-ranked team in a group that also contains France and Honduras.
"Ecuador are contenders for knockout-round qualification," he said ahead of the match. "It is important to start well against them in the group. Ecuador is well organised and technically strong. The strikers are outstanding.
"Approximately I have the starting line-up in the head. But I want to be still open because I have to be 100 per cent sure in my decisions. Sometimes a feeling changed two days before the game."
In addition to Sunday's Group E curtain-raiser, Hitzfeld also has one eye on the bigger picture and is keen to take Switzerland to the quarter-finals for the first time since they contested the last eight on home soil 60 years ago.
"We must first of all overcome the group stage," he added. "That is the biggest hurdle.
"As I said, I want to write history in Brazil - I was referring to the quarter-finals."
