Ecuador appoints Marcelo Gallardo as new national team head coach

Quito: The Ecuadorian Football Federation announced today the appointment of Argentine Marcelo Gallardo as head coach of the national team, succeeding his compatriot Sebastián Beccacece, whose contract was not renewed following Ecuador's exit against Mexico in the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup.

The Federation stated in a press release on its official social media accounts that Gallardo will take charge of the national team, emphasizing that Ecuador possesses the talent, organizational structure, and ambition necessary for the upcoming stage.

Marcelo Gallardo, 50 years old, returns to coaching after concluding his second tenure with Argentina's River Plate in February, having led the club in his first tenure to win the Copa Libertadores title twice. He has also previously coached Uruguay's Nacional and Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad. newsbetting.club

Gallardo will begin his mission with the Ecuadorian national team in a friendly match against South Korea on September 24.

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Lionel Messi was on Tuesday named in Argentina's squad for a friendly against Benin on October 6, a match that will serve as his farewell appearance after announcing his international retirement last month.

الأخبارالإثنين.. بدء التسجيل في ختامي المهرجان الصيفي 2026أعلنت اللجنة المنظمة لسباق الهجن بالشحانية، عن مواعيد فتح وغلق باب التسجيل للمشاركة في ختامي المهرجان الصيفي 2026. وأوضحت اللجنة أن يوم الإثنين المقبل الموافق 12 أكتوبر 2026، سي...فتح →

The 39-year-old said in August he was retiring from Argentina duty after a two-decade international career that included winning the 2022 World Cup and Copa America triumphs in 2021 and 2024.

"We made the decision to invite the best player in the world, the symbol of our national team, our captain, Lionel Andres Messi, so that he can have the farewell he truly deserves on October 6 here in Argentina," said Argentine FA president Claudio Tapia.

The match against Benin will take place at River Plate's Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, which can accommodate 85,000 spectators.

Tapia also invited all of Argentina's 2022 World Cup winners to join Messi for what he said would be an "unforgettable" occasion.

Argentina begin a series of three friendlies against Bolivia on September 30 in Cordoba -- their first match since losing the World Cup final to Spain -- before taking on Burkina Faso in Buenos Aires on October 3.

Messi has been included in the squad for the third match against Benin, when he is expected to make his 208th and final appearance for the national team. He is Argentina's all-time record scorer with 125 goals.

Following the death of his father Jorge last month, Messi had said he had "serious doubts" about continuing to play football of any sort for "much longer".

"It was a decision that hurt and still hurts deep in my soul but I understand that it is the right time," Messi said when he called time on his Argentina career.

His contract with Major League Soccer club Inter Miami runs until the end of the 2028 season.

Last month FIFA ordered Argentina to play their next home match with capacity reduced to 50 percent for breaches of its disciplinary code relating to using a sports event for making demonstrations of a non-sporting nature.

After Argentina beat England 2-1 in a tense World Cup semi-final in July, several players held up a banner saying: "The Falklands are Argentine".

The friendlies are also expected to count towards suspensions handed down following incidents after Argentina's World Cup final defeat by Spain.

Midfielder Leandro Paredes received a 10-match ban, while defender Nahuel Molina was suspended for seven games and Thiago Almada for one.

Doha, Qatar: Qatar were handed a 4-1 defeat by Republic of Korea in their opening football match at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, yesterday.

Eom Ji-sung scored a hat-trick for the Koreans, finding the net in the seventh, 20th and first-half stoppage time minutes. Kim Myung-jun added the fourth in the 65th minute.

Qatar pulled one back through Marwan Sharif in the 85th minute, but the Koreans comfortably held on to start their campaign with a convincing victory.

Qatar will face Saudi Arabia in their second and final group match on Friday.

Paris, France: With less than two weeks to go before Ballon d'Or voting closes, many leading candidates are campaigning hard to be awarded football's top individual honour.

This self-promotion is a relatively recent development in a team sport where, until a few years ago, the top individual prize went largely unnoticed until it was time to present it.

But now, the Ballon d'Or dominates the football conversation during the months when the new European season is still finding its feet.

The trophy will be presented on October 26, while the final sprint began on September 8 when France Football, the award organiser, released the list of 30 candidates to succeed Ousmane Dembele.

The ceremony will be in London, even though only five of the 30 nominees play in the English Premier League.

The award carries no cash prize, but it has become worth increased income and status to players and their teams.

Many stars have related bonuses in their boot contracts while the award also increases their overall marketing value, and that of their club.

The two all-time leading Ballon d'Or winners, Lionel Messi, who has picked up the trophy eight times, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who won five times, both have annual sponsorship income estimated by Forbes at more than 65 million dollars.

Clubs can expect to sell more merchandise if one of their players wins.

Some 100 invited journalists -- one representative from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings -- will cast votes.

With no clear favourite, the stars and their PR agencies are stepping up their campaigns. Achievements are shamelessly paraded to scrape together votes.

'I deserve it'

"For me, Mbappe and I, we're the two best players in the world," Lamine Yamal, who has won the World Cup and La Liga in 2026, said in an interview on Movistar Plus.

"I honestly think that, as the best in the world, maybe there are two of us, and this year I deserve it because of what I've won," the 19-year-old added.

He was responding to the Frenchman, who days earlier had emphasised the award's individual nature -- after a year in which he won no trophies with either Real Madrid or France, who lost a World Cup semi-final to Spain, but scored 10 World Cup goals to take his tally to an all-time leading 22.

"Being the all-time top scorer in World Cup history, overtaking all the great legends in the history of the sport in the most important tournament there is, is something that really stands out, a global event. Who am I voting for? Myself," said the striker, who was also the top scorer in last season's Liga and Champions League.

His manager, Jose Mourinho, did not hesitate to back up the argument: "We know who has made history this summer, and he's not from PSG or the Spanish national team."

In 2024, Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony after learning just before they were due to travel that none of their seven nominees had won.

This year, Paris Saint-Germain have a record 10 nominees, after retaining the Champions League.

That number, and also the side's reputation for collective team spirit, may count against them.

Their leading candidates are Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Fabian Ruiz, the only player on the list to have won both the Champions League and the World Cup this year.

'Why not dream?'

"Why not dream?", the unassuming Spanish midfielder told French television.

PSG are refusing to pick one individual while arguing that the winner has to be one of their players.

"Kvara and Doue are incredible players. For me Kvara could win the Ballon d'Or, as could Dembele and others," said coach Luis Enrique.

Dembele told France Football that he would not try to influence the poll.

"May the best player win; in any case, it's not us who are voting," he said. "I never sell myself. It's up to them to decide."

Meanwhile, England captain Harry Kane, who scored 73 goals while leading Bayern Munich to a German domestic double and his country to third in the World Cup, remains quiet.

Bayern are speaking up for their leader, putting together a video in which team-mates said that Kane should win.

"He deserves to win it, 100 per cent, without a doubt," said Colombian Luis Diaz, who is also on the shortlist.