Official. La Tri are coming home. The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) confirmed on Friday, October 16 that Ecuador, coached by Argentine Marcelo Gallardo, will play two home friendlies during the November FIFA window: Costa Rica on November 13 in Quito and Bolivia on November 17 in Guayaquil.

It will be La Tri’s first game in front of its own fans in more than a year. According to EFE, Ecuador last played at home on September 9, 2025, beating Argentina 1-0 in Guayaquil to close out South American qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Its last game in Quito was in March 2025, a 2-1 win over Venezuela.

Why it matters

The two friendlies follow Gallardo’s first window in charge, a tour of Asia in which Ecuador lost 3-0 to South Korea (September 24), drew 0-0 with Japan before losing 5-4 on penalties (October 1), and drew 1-1 with Panama before losing 7-6 in the shootout (October 5).

After the Panama game, Gallardo told reporters the team would look for opponents closer to home: “We won’t be making such long trips anymore,” he said, as reported by PRIMICIAS (translated from Spanish). The November FIFA window runs from November 9 to 17, 2026.

What’s next

• November 13: Ecuador vs Costa Rica, Quito. Kickoff time to be confirmed.
• November 17: Ecuador vs Bolivia, Guayaquil. Kickoff time to be confirmed.
• The squad for these games has not been announced yet.

The build-up is aimed at South American qualifying for the 2030 World Cup, which PRIMICIAS reports would begin in 2027, and the 2028 Copa América.

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Sources

• EFE via Infobae (Oct 16, 2026): Ecuador jugará frente a Costa Rica y Bolivia en amistosos de la fecha FIFA de noviembre
• PRIMICIAS: Marcelo Gallardo conoció a sus jugadores; los próximos amistosos serán en destinos más cercanos

Image credits

• Featured graphic: Footy Condor.
• Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa: ground.hopper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.
• Estadio Monumental: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.