Ecuador takes on Venezuela in their opening match of the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America as both teams search for the perfect start to the tournament.
The oldest national team tournament in the world sees Ecuador go against the familiar sight of their Venezuelan counterparts in Group B.
This game sees two evenly matched teams go head-to-head with five wins and three draws for each out of their 13 competitive meetings. Their last encounter in the Copa America ended 2-2 in 2021 while the most recent one which came in a World Cup qualifier last November also ended in a stalemate.
Ecuador started their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a fine and three-point deficit as punishment for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification series. Yet, they are fifth having won three, drawn two and lost one of their six matches so far.
A Lionel Messi goal decided their opening game against Argentina in Buenos Aires but they bounced back with wins over Uruguay and Bolivia, the latter coming thanks to a late strike from Kevin Rodriguez.
Goalless draws against Colombia and Venezuela followed then they beat Chile 1-0 in the final game of 2023.
Felix Sanchez Bas’ side took on Guatemala and Italy in the United States of America for a couple of friendlies ahead of the Copa America and they won the first before losing 2-1 to the Europeans.
La Tri has never won a major competition and this is a great chance for this new generation of talents to better their best-ever run of two fourth-place finishes.
Given their improving fortunes in recent years, Ecuador appear as underdogs this summer and they must live up to that billing in a group containing Mexico, Jamaica and Venezuela. Hence, a victory in the first game gives them a fantastic chance to advance to the knockout rounds.
The Venezuelans will be taking part in their 20th Copa America when they land in the USA in June and having missed out on the 2022 World Cup, they could be dangerous for their group opponents.
La Vinotinto are currently fourth in the 10-team CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying group with nine points from the first six games but they occupy that position solely thanks to Ecuador’s points deduction.
Nevertheless, Venezuela have shown glimpses of promise under Fernando Batista who has lost only one of his six competitive matches in charge.
While they couldn’t follow up four unbeaten friendlies at the start of the year in the opening game of their World Cup qualifying campaign against Colombia, they quickly bounced back with a 1-0 success over Paraguay thanks to Salomon Rondon’s added-time winner.
Another late goal was needed to tie the game away to Brazil but they didn’t need such intervention in the next match which they won 3-0 against Chile. Back-to-back draws followed against Ecuador and Peru in November 2023 while they lost 2-1 to Italy in friendly action.
The March international break was rounded off with a stalemate against Guatemala and it exposed their weakness of goalscoring as an area where they need immediate improvement.
Venezuela remain the only CONMEBOL side to have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup while their best-ever finish at the Copa America was fourth place in 2011. There is more than enough motivation to better their record this time around amidst a crippling economic crisis at home.
To achieve something out of the ordinary, Batista must galvanize impressive performances out of his team to give the fans hope to hold on which could in turn spur the team further.
Match tickets
This matchday 1 Copa America fixture takes place on Saturday, 22 June 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 11 PM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on the websites of both national federations and you can hurry to cop yours.
Levi’s Stadium in California will host this captivating fixture and the 68,500-capacity arena is anticipated to be rocking with excitement and intrigue. Both teams are quite familiar with each other so fans will not be lost on the importance of their support once the match kicks off.
Finding tickets through official sources may be a bit complicated so we advise fans trying to purchase Ecuador vs Venezuela tickets to check on a ticket resale site.
Team news
Ecuador had a full-strength side to call upon during the March international window and they will be hoping it stays the same at the Copa America.
Venezuela are in pretty much the same situation and there is a growing chemistry within their ranks which they can depend upon during the games.
Line-ups
Ecuador have built some positive momentum in recent years and they would look to profit from that to better their quarter-final finish from the last continental tournament.
Ecuador: Dominguez; Torres, Pacho, Hincapie; Preciado, Franco, Caicedo, Estupinan; Rodriguez, Valencia, Sarmiento
Alexander Gonzalez is set to feature at right-back in Venezuela’s four-man defence alongside Wilker Angel, Yordan Osorio, and Miguel Navarro. Players like Tomas Rincon, Yeferson Soteldo and Nahuel Ferraresi will also be vying for a starting place.
As the nation’s record goalscorer with more than 40 goals in over 100 appearances, Salomon Rondon is the go-to player for Venezuela and he will be one of the first names on the team sheet in his fifth Copa America tournament
Venezuela: Romo; Gonzalez, Osorio, Angel, Navarro; Savarino, Rincon, Herrera, Soteldo; Martinez, Rondon
Prediction
Ecuador are the better team on paper and they must rise to the occasion when they come face-to-face with Venezuela in a group that looks open for all of the teams. La Tri must thus utilize their immense quality and youthfulness to overwhelm the Venezuelans.
This should nevertheless be an exciting match for all involved as we are set to see the typical South American feistiness mixed with moments of undiluted quality. This could easily end up as a draw but we are banking on a moment that can decide this game.
Ecuador 2-1 Venezuela
