After five rounds of qualification for the World Cup 2026, the Ecuador national team is sixth in the standings with five points.

On day 6 of the competition, this Tuesday, the team led by Félix Sánchez Bas welcome their fellow Chilean in Rodrigo Paz Delgado.

This commitment took on greater expectations after the National Association of Professional Football (ANFP) filed a complaint with FIFA over alleged irregularities in Byron Castillo’s citizenship.

In both the lawsuit and the appeal, the highest football body ruled in favor of Ecuador, however, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) was sanctioned with a fine and a sporting penalty. which meant starting the current tie with less than three points.

For this reason, the Chilean press wonders what would have happened if the Castillo case had not happened, and also refers to the fact that the soccer player, who plays for Pachuca, fell into a “free fall”.

Below is a note published by the newspaper the third from Santiago:

Byron Castillo’s free fall after Chile’s appeal

Looking at the standings in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Ecuador and Chile (who meet this Tuesday, in Quito) are tied on five points. But there is a great detail: Three started with -3. The reason is the punishment for the case of Byron Castillo, prompted by the appeal of the Chilean Football Federation, as the last administrative instance to enter the World Cup in Qatar instead of the Ecuadorians, due to the alleged improper placement of football players. Finally, the Guayas team took part in the World Cup despite all the legal maneuvers the ANFP made through the Brazilian lawyer Eduardo Carlezzo and the evidence that eventually proved that the defender was born in Colombia.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) itself found that Castillo’s registration as an Ecuadorian citizen was carried out by the Football Federation (FEF) with false information, which caused the sanction of losing points for the 2026 qualifiers and a fine. “The arbitration team is satisfied that the player’s place and date of birth in the passport are incorrect, as he was born in Tumac, Colombia on June 25, 1995,” CAS said.

Today, the protagonist of this tangle is outside the national team. For this reason, the question arises: what happened to Byron Castillo?

His last appearance in La Tri was on 12 November 2022, in a friendly against Iraq, before the World Cup. Everyone’s eyes were on him, as well as on Gustavo Alfaro’s coaching staff, to know if the player was going to Qatar or not. By the way, it was Castillo’s last game last year, as he was injured and was sidelined until March 2023. Despite the injury, the former Ecuador coach recently admitted that the decision not to take him to the World Cup was not his and that’s was the beginning of the end of his cycle.

“I refused to lower Byron, he had to go to the World Cup, he deserved it, I told everyone because that was my position, but the decision was up to the federation. That was the beginning of the end,” Alfaro told ‘TyC Sports’. After participating in the World Cup, the coach left and is not on the best of terms with the FEF. He is currently directing Costa Rica. “Beyond FIFA’s decision, if a player met the qualification requirements, he was also eligible for the World Cup,” he added.

Castillo had an important international projection as a right back. He stood out in Barcelona, ​​​​Guayaquil and went to Mexico, behind the back and back of his case. In July of last year, he was taken over by León, in exchange for 2.85 million euros. After the operation at the end of 2022, he returned to activity in March, although he did not manage to win the desired minutes. In fact, he watched the 2023 Concachampions final from the bench. Last year he had other personal problems, due to a trial for a child support claim, which generated an arraigo order.

In mid-2023, he was loaned to Pachuca, a team belonging to the same conglomerate León. If you compare the last season with the current season, a significant drop in his presence on the field is visible. In the 22-23 Liga MX season with Fiera, he played 23 games (17 starts), added 1,525 minutes and scored a goal. The 23-24 season with the Tuzos shows this with 10 games played (7 starts) and 655 minutes. No notes.

Ecuador appealed to the Swiss Federal Court to challenge CAS’ decision to deduct points. However, this case reaffirmed the initial decision, proving that Castillo used false documentation. “The best lesson Ecuador can give Chile, after everything they’ve told us, is to beat them on the pitch,” said FEF president Francisco Egas. “I invited people to cheer us on, but without insulting, because that can lead to a new penalty for the national team,” he added. He ruled that “FEF acted in a good way and respected all processes”.

Ahead of the double qualifying round, Spain coach Félix Sánchez urged people to forget about the punishment handed down to Ecuador over the incident. “(Failure) we cannot control. We have to focus on what is happening on the field and from there try to keep adding so that we can forget about those three point deficits when looking at the standings in the near future,” said the former coach of Qatar.

If Ecuador had started the qualifiers like the others, they would have had eight points today. Byron Castillo continues to make noise. (D)