Rise of a Football God-Chapter 484: FIFA World Cup 2026 [15]

(GROUP L:)

(Ecuador vs Sweden)

(Venue: BC Place, Canada)

(Date: June 19, 2026)

(Time: 20:00)

Ecuado vs Sweden, the final game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s group stage matchday 1 encounter.

In the buildup to the game, fans joked that Sweden should bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic back to represent their country but of course, it didn’t happen.

That didn’t stop Zlatan Ibrahimovic memes from flooding the internet though. And somehow, the Sweden national team coach used that to his advantage in the psychological warfare involved in the buildup to the game.

According to the Sweden national team coach, the fact that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be available in Canada to watch the game live was a direct guarantee that they would win the game.

Such superstition was bullshit, but well, who cares?

The fans loved the banter.

In response, Ecuador’s coach called the Sweden coach toxic, tainting the unity of football but few people cared. Some supported him, but most were content to watch the drama in the buildup to the game.

And finally, D-day came. The moment of truth.

For Ecuador, they started in a 3-4-3 formation, with Galindez in between the posts and the 3-man defense ahead of him comprising Ordonez at the right, Hincapie by the left, and PSG’s Pacho in the middle.

Most people never knew Pacho’s nationality till today. For PSG, the man was a menace, forming an unbreakable defensive partnership with Marquinhos in recent years.

Now, it was time to represent his country.

It was time to bring his club form to represent his national team.

Ahead of the defense in midfield stood the quadruple of Franco, Moses Caicedo, Vite, and Estupinian. And in attack was the trio of Plata, Guagua Silva, and the Ecuadorian national team record highest goal scorer, the ageless Valencia.

In contrast to the Ecuadorian national football team lineup, Sweden lined up in a 3-4-1-2 formation with Johansson in between the posts, and a defensive partnership of Starfelt, Gudmundsson, and Sema protecting him.

Further ahead in midfield was a quadruple lineup of Ayari, Karlstrom, Saletros, and Nanasi, and then Kulusevski as the sole attacking midfielder who stood ahead of them.

And then the 2 star-man upfront, 2 names that could cause trepidations to flow through any country’s defense in Victor Gyokeres and Aleksander Isak.

Maybe some countries would have fielded one and benched the other. After all, fielding 2 strikers was risky.

But not Sweden.

Not the Sweden national team coach.

The enigmatic coach fielded his 2 strikers, and he was confident in them wreaking havoc against this Ecuadorian side.

And like he said, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the biggest Sweden legend watching the game from the stands, the boys would perform.

And that was exactly what they did on the pitch, they performed.

FWEEE!

As soon as the game started, Ecuador started with the normal high South American energy, Caicedo leading the charge to run their opponents to the ground but Sweden did not bulge nor did they panic as they calmly did their thing.

Ecuador dominated the midfield battle for large swathes of the first half, Moses Caicedo and Estupinian doing their thing from the middle of the park, but none of it faced Sweden who weathered the offensive calmly.

And then in the 32nd minute of the game, Sweden struck.

1 chance, 1 goal.

It was a counterattacking chance.

Gudmundsson won back the ball, could not recover fast enough from his sliding tackle. But luckily, he had a partner in crime, Sema quickly kicking the ball to Karlstrom who took one look, noticed Aleksander Isak’s run before hitting the ball long into his path.

But Isak didn’t take the ball into his strides, rather, he kicked it once with the heel of his boot, sending it into Gyokeres’ path.

One of the Ecuador defenders tried to hold Gyokeres but the towering striker simply shoved him aside before running with the ball.

And just after he entered the 18 yard box, he swung his leg, then...

BAM!

It was a shot straight out of the top drawer, the ball flying with devastating speed and power before tearing its way into the roof of the net.

Ecuador didn’t stand and watch after they conceded. Rather, they kept on playing their game and finally, they got rewarded for their efforts, Valencia getting on the end of a well-worked team effort to score and make it 1-1 in the 39th minute of the game.

The first half drama was not over though.

In the 43rd minute, the masked man struck again.

Victor Gyokeres ghosted into space as soon as a corner kick was played. The ball didn’t get to him, but it got to a Ecuador defender who botched his headed clearance, sending the ball into Gyokeres’ position instead.

The striker did not hesitate, jumping acrobatically before swinging his leg in a scissors kick, sending the ball past the goalkeeper and into the net.

1-2.

The stadium erupted as soon as the ball went in, the commentators going crazy as they waxed lyrical about the goal.

The first half came to an end 1-2.

And then, in the second half, Sweden ran away with the victory.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s presence truly felt like voodoo as the 2 Swedish strikers performed at extraterrestrial levels on the night.

Gyokeres scored the first 2 goals to give Sweden the lead in the first half, while Isak scored the final 2 to end the game in the second half.

The first came from a trademark Isak run in the 61st minute, taking the ball into his strides, dribbling past 2 players before rifling it into the roof of the net.

The second came in the 73rd minute, Gyokeres repaying the favor as he assisted Isak for the first goal which he assisted, leaving the ball for Isak who didn’t hesitate, lunging at it and shooting at the top right corner.

The Ecuador goalkeeper got a hand to it but it was not enough as the ball tore its way into the net.

1-4 to Sweden.

The game ended and Victor Gyokeres got the man of the match award.