All Whites hamstrung in midfield as Ecuador prove too strong
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
At Sports Illustrated Stadium; Harrison, New Jersey: Ecuador 2 (Nilson Angulo 50’, Leonardo Campana 83’) All Whites 0. HT: 0–0
The All Whites were hamstrung in midfield as they finished an epic run of fixtures in 2025 ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on a disappointing note, with a 2-0 loss to Ecuador in New Jersey on Tuesday night (Wednesday NZ time).
World No 85 New Zealand were on the back foot for the vast majority of the international friendly at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, as their 23rd-ranked South American opponents produced wave after wave of pressure.
The All Whites have never beaten a South American nation, but after they came within minutes of drawing with world No 13 Colombia in Florida at the weekend, there was reason to believe a positive result was possible, especially as Ecuador had released their captain and talismanic striker, Enner Valencia, back to his club in Mexico.
Ecuador were always going to be favourites, having qualified for the World Cup as the second-best team in South America. They entered the contest on a 14-match unbeaten streak, where they had conceded just three goals, though they had drawn seven of their last eight fixtures.
The All Whites’ inability to maintain possession for any sizeable length of time – they finished with just 28% of it – was ultimately their undoing on an evening where temperatures hovered around five degrees, allowing the two teams to play with plenty of intensity.
That Alex Rufer (and later Owen Parker-Price) were used at the base of midfield alongside Marko Stamenić – the captain on the night – instead of Joe Bell (managing hamstring fatigue amidst his Norwegian club Viking’s quest for a first league title since 1991) was an obvious factor.
Bell also sat out both of the team’s matches last month with hamstring concerns and the caution is understandable given the monumental achievement that beckons.
The All Whites started the game strongly, winning three attacking free kicks in the opening 10 minutes. The first and the third were headed off target while Eli Just’s shot after the second hit Ecuador’s wall was easily saved.
After that, it was only around the half-hour mark that they were able to put their foot on the ball and have something of a breather. For most of the night, they were chasing Ecuadorian’s around the pitch, doing all they could to prevent clear-cut chances. They did so, by and large, for the first 45 minutes, but ultimately their resistance gave way.
Ecuador had had seven goalless draws during their unbeaten run, but ensured there wouldn’t be one here five minutes after halftime, when Gonzalo Plata played a neat one-two with John Yeboah on the right to get in behind All Whites left back Francis de Vries, then curled the ball towards the far post, where Nilson Angulo tapped it in.
Angulo had been lively in the first half, forcing All Whites goalkeeper Max Crocombe to punch clear a curled ball from the left, then shooting wide twice – the second time when he had the whole goal to aim for at the back post at a corner.
New Zealand’s best chance came after they fell behind, when Ben Old received the ball from Just in front of Ecuador’s defence, jinked past one defender to enter the box then let rip, only for a lunging Willian Pacho to block his shot and send the ball out for a corner.
Crocombe was busy in goal, stretching to palm a Plata free kick onto the crossbar, then reacting sharply to deny him again after Marko Stamenić was dispossessed on the edge of the box as the All Whites tried to play out in search of an equaliser.
Any joy was short-lived as the ball came back to Plata, who then teed up Leonardo Campana to his right, the substitute firing into an open goal to give Ecuador a two-goal lead with seven minutes to play.
Stamenić and substitute left back James McGarry both had shots blocked as the All Whites sought something to take out of the match, while Crocombe’s final act was to push away a curling effort from substitute Alan Minda.
What they said
Darren Bazeley (All Whites coach): “It was a tough evening. They're a very good team with some really good players. At times, you know, we were really fighting hard to stay in the game and stay with them. We got to halftime at 0-0. We made some changes within the second half to players and the shape to try to compete and try to get back into the game. Overall, really proud of the players effort. They worked so hard and stuck at it. (There are) definitely things for us to keep getting better at”.
What’s next
The FIFA World Cup draw on December 6 (6am NZ time) in Washington, DC, where the All Whites will be the lowest-ranked team and Ecuador the 22nd-ranked team out of the 42 to have already confirmed their spots, with six teams still to be found in playoffs in March.