Ecuador Football Manager Leaves Post After World Cup Exit

Ecuador manager Sebastian Beccacece said he is leaving his role after his team exited the World Cup following a 2-0 loss to Mexico. Beccacece guided Ecuador to second place in South American qualifying and secured advancement from Group E with a 2-1 victory over Germany in the final group match. Ecuador had opened with a 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast and a 0-0 draw against Curacao.

"Our contract ended with the World Cup," Beccacece said.

He added that the team did not achieve the goal of making the tournament Ecuador's best World Cup performance. Beccacece stated he would have preferred to continue but accepted the outcome after the round-of-32 result. Mexico scored twice in the first half through Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez.

Beccacece is the seventh manager to depart after his team's elimination at the tournament. The other six include coaches from Uruguay, Scotland, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Tunisia and South Korea. Ecuador reached the knockout stage for only the second time in its history.