2001 in Ecuadorian football

The 2001 season was the 79th season of competitive football in Ecuador.

National leagues

Serie A

Champion: Emelec (9th title)
International cup qualifiers:
- 2002 Copa Libertadores: Emelec, El Nacional, Olmedo
Relegated: Delfín, LDU Portoviejo

Serie B

Winner: LDU Quito (2nd title)
Promoted: LDU Quito, Deportivo Cuenca
Relegated: Deportivo Quevedo

Segunda

Winner: Manta
Promoted: Manta

Clubs in international competitions

Team	2001 Copa Libertadores	2001 Copa Merconorte
Aucas	N/A	Eliminated in the Group Stage
Barcelona	N/A	Eliminated in the Group Stage
El Nacional	Eliminated in the Round of 16	N/A
Emelec	Eliminated in the Round of 16	Runner-up
Olmedo	Eliminated in the first round	N/A

National teams

The Ecuador national team played in fourteen matches in 2001: eight FIFA World Cup qualifiers, three Copa América matches, and three friendlies. At the end of the year, the team qualified for their first FIFA World Cup.

2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Ecuador finished their qualifying campaign to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They finished 2nd in the region, behind Argentina and ahead of Brazil, to qualify to their first FIFA World Cup.

28 March 2001

15:00

Ecuador	1 – 0	Brazil
Delgado 49'	(Report)

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 40,800

Referee: Felipe Ramos Rizo (Mexico)

24 April 2001

16:00

Ecuador	2 – 1	Paraguay
Delgado 44', 52'	(Report)	Cardozo 26'

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 30,145

Referee: Ángel Sánchez (Argentina)

2 June 2001

16:00

Peru	1 – 2	Ecuador
Pizarro 2'	(Report)	Méndez 11' Delgado 90'

Estadio Monumental "U", Lima

Attendance: 54,236

Referee: Antonio Marrufo (Mexico)

15 August 2001

16:00

Ecuador	0 – 2	Argentina
	(Report)	Verón 19' Crespo 34' (pen.)

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 38,156

Referee: Stefano Braschi (Italy)

5 September 2001

20:30

Colombia	0 – 0	Ecuador
	(Report)

Estadio El Campín, Bogotá

Attendance: 28,487

Referee: Youssuf Al Aqily (Saudi Arabia Football Federation)

6 October 2001

16:00

Bolivia	1 – 5	Ecuador
Galindo 59'	(Report)	de la Cruz 13' Delgado 23' Kaviedes 56' Fernández 89' Gómez 90'

Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Ángel Sánchez (Argentina)

7 November 2001

16:00

Ecuador	1 – 1	Uruguay
Kaviedes 72'	(Report)	Olivera 43' (pen.)

Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Felipe Ramos Rizo (Mexico)

14 November 2001

20:40

Chile	0 – 0	Ecuador
	(Report)

Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago

Attendance: 19,237

Referee: Juan Paniagua (Bolivia)

Copa América

Ecuador was drawn into Group A with hosts Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela. After finishing third in the group, as well has the third best third-place team, they were eliminated in the Group Stage.