Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado will host Thursday’s World Cup qualifier between Ecuador and Venezuela. La Tricolor aim to retain their spot in top four, and we are positive that they will adopt an attack-minded approach against La Vinotinto. Gustavo Alfaro has named five new players for the November qualifiers, with all Christian Cruz, Jackson Rodriguez, Janner Corozo, Michael Carcelan, and Djorkaeff Resco making the cut.
All Diego Palacios, Pervis Estupinan, and Michael Estrada are banned for the match, while important attacker Enner Valencia is sidelined with injury. Venezuela, on the other hand, failed to impress in a 3-0 loss to Chile, and seeing that they are stuck at the bottom of the standings, we believe that home win should be considered. Important attacking midfielder Soteldo is sidelined with injury, but Salomon Rondon returns to contention after missing the October qualifiers.
Highlighted Player (Sebastián Méndez):
Born in Mira, Ecuador, on April 26, 1997, Sebastian Mendez plays for Major League Soccer club Orlando City as a midfielder. Mendez began his youth career at Independiente del Valle and he continued playing for the Ecuadorian side at senior level.
After scoring four goals in 81 appearances in the league for Independiente, the Ecuador international moved to Orlando City in 2019, but it has to be noted that he played for Cultural Leonesa on loan in the past as well. Mendez made his MLS debut against New York City on March 2, 2019 and he was replaced by Nani in the 70th minute.
As for his international career, the Orlando City midfielder played his first ever match for the Ecuador national team on September, 12, 2019 against Guatemala. The Ecuadorians won the game 2-0, with Mendez being replaced in 73rd minute of the match. His main position is defensive midfielder, but he is capable of playing as a central midfielder as well.
Highlighted Team (Venezuela):
The Venezuela national team is the member of South American CONMEBOL confederation competing at the international stage since 1938, at the same time fighting for glory and popularity in the country where baseball diverts all of the attention from the sport. With increased popularity of the FIFA World Cup the country found enough motivation and incentive to increase player development and fan support in order to strengthen the cult of the national football team.
However, South American minnows Venezuela have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and as of 2014 they remain the only CONMEBOL member not to achieve this feat. La Vinotinto have however appeared in 15 Copa America tournament with their first entry coming in 1967. Their best result was the fourth-place finish in 2011 and under the new leadership of Rafael Dudamet, Venezuela are looking for an upset at Copa America Centenario.
The most prominent player of the Venezuela national team is New York Cosmos midfielder Juan Arango who is the team’s top scorer and the player with most caps.