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Mexico was kicked out of the World Cup
Ecuador’s federation has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA after the first team was sent off to the 2026 World Cup by Mexico.
The Mexican team defeated its counterpart from Ecuador From the 32nd round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, after beating them 2-0 in the match held at the Azteca Stadium on Wednesday morning.
The newspaper said:Brand:“Ecuador’s complaint comes after the difficulties the team faced before the game, especially with travel and recovery.
The complaint gave rise to a discussion. How do footballers really feel after hours of flying, disrupted routines and incomplete recovery? Especially since the flight lasted nine hours, and it was supposed to last only three hours.
Ecuador’s protest raised an issue that many national teams were already grappling with in private.
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In a World Cup shared by the United States, Mexico and Canada, the competition forces teams to deal with long waits, extended flights and lost recovery time.
Jet lag can appear after sitting on a plane for several hours, sleep becomes worse, everyday life is disrupted or physical and psychological stress accumulates during the flight.
Becasese’s team, which had a long-delayed flight to Mexico City, exploded before the game, the coach said. “We were three hours behind schedule and we don’t know why… A three and a half hour flight, plus an hour and twenty minutes to get to the hotel, turned into a nine hour flight.”
The Ecuadorian Football Federation filed an official complaint, considering what happened “far from the principles of fair play, justice and unity that the World Cup should represent.”
Ecuador’s national team described the events leading up to the qualifiers as “unsportsmanlike”, where they ended up losing 2-0.
The question, complaints aside, is simple: can travel affect the outcome of a match?
For Julio Caballero, a physical therapist with a PhD in biomedicine and health sciences, the answer is quite simple.
“Sometimes the outcome of a game is decided not only on the pitch but also on the journey between games… The change from the Qatar World Cup is huge. Now the map is completely different. The distances require air travel, which disrupts routine and makes logistics an integral part of the preparations.”
