Ecuador's Unbeaten Streak Ends with Amad Diallo's Last-Minute Goal

Ecuador’s 19-Game Unbeaten Run Shattered by Amad Diallo’s Late Winner

For 89 minutes, Ecuador looked like a team that had forgotten how to lose.

Nineteen games unbeaten, Moisés Caicedo patrolling central midfield with his usual authority, and a front line that kept asking questions. The record looked safe. Then Wilfried Singo and Amad Diallo tore it up in one sweeping move.

Ecuador had carried the edge for long spells. They arrived in this fixture in rich form, unbeaten since September 2024, and played like a side that believed the run would stretch on. Caicedo set the tone in the middle, snapping into challenges, recycling possession, and springing attacks.

The first warning for Ivory Coast came early. John Yeboah cut inside and unleashed a strike that crashed against the crossbar, the sound echoing the intent of an Ecuador side on the front foot. Alan Minda followed later with an effort of his own that also smacked the bar, a chance born from a trademark Caicedo intervention high up the pitch. He won the ball, drove play forward, and Minda really should have finished the job.

Ivory Coast refused to play the role of sparring partner. They carried menace whenever they broke Ecuador’s press. After the interval, their response arrived with a thud of woodwork at the other end. Elye Wahi found a pocket of space and steered a shot beyond the goalkeeper, only to see it cannon back off the bar. One each in the battle with the frame of the goal, and still no breakthrough.

The contest tightened. Legs tired, spaces opened, and the game drifted towards a stalemate that neither attack quite deserved. Ecuador pushed, but the precision of the first half faded. Ivory Coast grew bolder.

Then came the twist.

With the clock ticking into the 90th minute, Singo seized his moment. The right-back surged down the flank, powering past challenges, refusing to check his stride. His run ripped open Ecuador’s defensive shape. When the ball reached Amad Diallo, the winger needed only one touch to decide it. A deft, first-time finish, guided neatly into the bottom corner, finally beat Ecuador’s resistance and silenced their unbeaten record in an instant.

No scramble. No chaos. Just composure from Diallo and a clean, ruthless end to a 19-game streak.

For Ecuador, the defeat is a jolt as much as a blemish. The performance carried enough threat to win most nights, but the margins at this level are brutal. Two efforts off the bar, one lapse at the death, and the run is gone.

They do not have long to dwell. Curacao await next weekend, a side coming off a heavy 7-1 loss to Germany earlier on Sunday. After such a long stretch without defeat, the question now is simple: was this a stumble, or the start of something more troubling?