(Football news) With a perfect record, La Seleccion won all of their group A games, including their most recent 2-0 victory over Peru. In Group B, Ecuador finished second after holding Mexico to a 0-0 tie. From a statistical perspective, Lionel Scaloni’s team’s first round performance was almost perfect as they won all three of their matches and did not give up.

They haven’t trailed in a Copa America game since the 2019 semifinals (a 2-0 loss to Brazil), since all five of their goals in the first half came in the second half. In all competitions, the Argentines have won eight straight games and allowed just two goals to be scored against them. 

Their last three appearances in the quarter-finals of this tournament have been a breeze, with Argentina winning those encounters by a combined margin of 9-1.

Only once in this century have we seen them lose a quarter-final fixture at this tournament, when they hosted this event in 2011 and were beaten on penalties by Uruguay (5-4).

Argentina have never lost to Ecuador at the Copa America, winning their 2021 quarter-final meeting against them 3-0, while the World Cup holders have advanced beyond this stage on four successive occasions.

Despite being on the back foot for a good portion of their previous encounter, Ecuador did enough to hold off the Mexicans and claim a spot in the knockout phase on goal difference.

It is the second successive time that La Tri have qualified for the last eight of this tournament, while they have now made the quarter-finals in three of the previous four Copa Americas.

Felix Sanchez has a chance to guide this team into the semi-finals of this competition for the first time since 1993, with the Ecuadorians losing three successive Copa America fixtures in the last eight.

Ecuador have yet to concede a first-half goal in this competition, though they have only netted once in the opening 45 minutes when they lost 2-1 to Venezuela.

The last time they scored first in a quarter-final fixture at this tournament was in 1997 when they were beaten 4-3 on penalties against Mexico after that match ended in a 1-1 draw.

They have lost six of their previous seven competitive fixtures versus Argentina, with their last victory against them occurring in 2015 (2-0).

Also read: Euro 2024 quarter finals and all you need to know about it