River Plate legend Marcelo Gallardo to take over as Ecuador coach

Marcelo Gallardo, the most successful coach in River Plate history, is set to take over as head coach of Ecuador’s men’s national football team. 

The two-time Copa Libertadores winner is reportedly signing a four-year deal through December 2030, with the aim of competing in the 2028 Copa America and 2030 World Cup.

“I feel excited about this challenge,” Gallardo said after arriving in Ecuador, where he will be presented as head coach at a press conference. “We are going to work to ensure Ecuadorian fans feel fully represented by the national team during this stint.”

Una nueva era está por comenzar. 🇪🇨

Mañana presentamos oficialmente a Marcelo Gallardo, nuevo Director Técnico de La Tri.

🎙️ Sigue en vivo su primera rueda de prensa al frente de Ecuador a través de nuestro canal de YouTube, CanalFEF.

📺 Transmisión desde las 15H30.#NuevaEra… pic.twitter.com/7MEoi5YPld

— FEF 🇪🇨 (@FEFecuador) September 16, 2026 La Tri, as the Ecuadorian squad is known, is coming off an irregular 2026 World Cup under another Argentine head coach, Sebastián Beccacece. Ecuador produced up-and-down performances, mixing an historic 2-1 win against Germany to secure qualification into the knockout stage with a dreadful 2-0 defeat to Mexico in the round of 32 or a tough 0-0 tie with underdogs Curaçao.

This will be Gallardo’s first time training a national team, and the first time he won’t be accompanied by his longtime No. 2, Matías Biscay. Before departing for Ecuador, the coach told reporters that he had been “curious for a while about managing a national team” and was “very enthusiastic about this new chapter.”

First challenge El Muñeco, as he is affectionately known, won’t have much time to prepare. His first test will come in just a week, when Ecuador takes part in a four-team friendly tournament. La Tri will face South Korea on September 24 in Suwon, Japan on October 1 in Kanagawa, and either Panama or New Zealand on October 5 in Tokyo.

He will have a strong cast of stars at his disposal, with the likes of midfielder Moisés Caicedo, defender Willian Pacho and striker John Yeboah competing in Europe’s elite leagues. 

Gallardo made clear that the quality of Ecuador’s players was one of the factors that attracted him to the job.

“This great generation of players makes me very eager,” he said. “They’re young players with a lot of talent, playing for Europe’s biggest teams, and with a lot of potential to keep developing.”

A new step for ‘El Muñeco’ The 50-year-old coach is returning to management after working as an analyst for sports broadcaster ESPN during the 2026 World Cup.

It will be his first job after what was perhaps the worst stint of his coaching career, when he returned to River in August 2024 in an attempt to relive the success of his first time at the helm of the Nuñez club, between 2014 and 2022.

However, the experience ended badly, with Gallardo departing in February 2026 amid a three-game losing streak, with the club sitting 10th in Group B of the 2026 Torneo Apertura. 

River lost 11 of its 15 First Division games and 13 of its last 20 during his second tenure.

The losses marked a stark contrast with his first period at the club, when he became the most successful coach in River’s history, winning 14 titles after managing 425 games and winning more than 53% of them. 

He won seven international titles, including the historic 2018 Libertadores trophy, when the Millonario beat traditional rivals Boca Juniors in Madrid, Spain and seven domestic titles.

After ending that run in October 2022, he was reportedly pursued by European giants including FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

Instead, he signed a reportedly US$20 million contract with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, where he coached just 33 matches, recording 15 wins, four ties and 14 losses, before departing amid reports of a strained relationship with the club’s star, French striker Karim Benzema.