Ecuador and their place in the World Cup hung in the balance over the ineligibility of defender Byron Castillo. After the Chilean and Peruvian football organizations filed appeals against FIFA’s first decision in June declaring the right-back qualified, it was still unknown in September whether La Tri would participate in this year’s tournament. Castillo, 23, is allegedly a Colombian who registered as an Ecuadorian using a forged birth document, according to the Football Federation of Chile (FFC). However, Castillo was ultimately determined to be eligible for Ecuador by FIFA’s appeals committee.
Castillo participated in eight of Ecuador’s 18 qualifying games, where they earned 14 of the 26 points necessary to advance to Qatar. They had a strong qualification campaign, winning against Uruguay, thrashing Colombia 6-1, taking four points off Chile, drawing with Brazil and Argentina, and only losing once at home. As a result, they finished fourth in the South America qualifying region. Ecuador failed to advance past the group stage in their previous World Cup appearance in 2014, hence it has been 16 years since their lone appearance in the knockout rounds. There are no rewards for guessing who Chile will be rooting for when they play Qatar in the opening match in front of the entire world.
Ecuador’s impressive home performance in qualification propelled them to Qatar, but they will need to improve this winter if they want to go past the group stage. La Tri’s stellar home record is partly attributable to the fact that they play their games at Quito’s Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, the second-highest capital in the world. The altitude, which is 2,850 meters above sea level, can literally give opponents’ teams headaches because the thinner air means less oxygen reaches players’ lungs. Qatar, in comparison, has an average elevation of just 28 meters, making it one of the lowest-lying nations in the world. Ecuador will eventually return to Earth.
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