Ecuador fans pin hopes on a World Cup run amid a surge in violence

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador could do with some good news.

Many provinces are under a state of emergency. Thousands of military and police are fighting a surge in crime driven by drug traffickers. Night-time curfews abound. The fuel crisis has caused severe disruption. The border with Colombia is volatile.

But hope is high and undiminished for Ecuador at the coming World Cup.

The team qualified second in South America to World Cup champion Argentina, losing only twice in 18 games, both times away by one goal in Argentina and Brazil.

Supporters of La Tri believe they're good enough to surpass their previous best World Cup result, the round of 16 in 2006 in Germany, where Ecuador was ousted by a David Beckham free kick.

“I bought a giant TV on credit so I could watch Ecuador win the World Cup,” says Mario Uquillas, a 43-year-old shopkeeper from downtown Guayaquil.

“I hope that, at the very least, La Tri reaches the quarterfinals. It's about time, because we have a great team.”

Other merchants at the sprawling La Bahía market are taking advantage of the occasion, including offering Ecuador World Cup jerseys. The most popular feature the names of Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié, Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo, and Paris Saint-Germain center back Willian Pacho.

Hincapié put smiles on the faces of Ecuador fans this week when Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. Those supporters have another opportunity to see homegrown stars win a major trophy when Hincapié and Pacho clash in the Champions League final next weekend.

Local soccer hasn't been immune to the country's violence. In fact, the local scene is stained with blood; five players were murdered last year and three more victims of armed attacks.

The most dramatic case occurred last December in northern Guayaquil when hitmen killed Mario Pineida, the left back of local club Guayaquil Barcelona and a former national team player.

Pineida was at a butcher shop with his mother and his female partner when two attackers shot them repeatedly. The mother was wounded and the partner died. One of the gunmen was arrested but the motive for the attack remains unclear.

Guayaquil, 270 kilometers southwest of capital Quito, ranks eighth among the most violent cities in the Americas, according to the crime index of the international platform Numbeo. Ecuador recorded 9,216 violent deaths last year, a rate of 50.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organized Crime.

Living in the country's most violent city has led families to take precautions, especially in the sprawling slums, where children used to play soccer in the streets. Now, at nightfall, they often lock themselves in their homes for fear of the frequent shootings, robberies, or attacks.

And, yet, in this environment soccer manages to thrive thanks to Guayaquil Barcelona, Ecuador's most popular club. It offers a dream of a better life, starting in the youth academy that once briefly included Hincapié. But he wouldn't recognize the facilities now — secure and guarded against organized crime.

The soccer school caters for nearly 300 youths. Piero Ortega, aged 10, has been at the academy for five years.

“My dream is to play for PSG or Real Madrid,” Ortega says. “My dream is to be a professional soccer player.”

Shouts of instructions from coaches can be heard at the academy. Boys and girls chase after the ball and repeat actions to correct plays. They seem to never tire of running.

Another 10-year-old, Washington Vera, controls the ball with great skill, eludes opponents, and delivers precise passes.

“I would like to play for the national team as a right winger,” Vera says, also eager to one day “score goals for the national team.”

Enrique Benavides is trying to deliver those dreams as the coordinator of Guayaquil Barcelona's academies while also trying to keep the kids safe.

“Insecurity has set a limit for us; fear has entered every neighborhood, every community. Nobody is safe,” Benavides says. ”Given the insecurity, this school offers children the opportunity to attend our pitches and train safely. Before, they played in parks and streets at any time of day, but now that's no longer possible because of the insecurity."

That's why there's a lot riding on Ecuador at the World Cup to distract their supporters, however briefly, from the violence outside their homes.

The fans' passion is unbridled, much like their expectations.

“Before, we dreamed of qualifying; now we're hoping they reach the quarterfinals or semifinals of the World Cup,” Guayaquil lawyer Daniel Sánchez says.

Matías Oyola is an Argentine who has recently moved from being a Guayaquil Barcelona player to the sporting director. He’s also drank the Kool-Aid.

“The World Cup for Ecuador will be a continuation of what they did in the qualifiers,” Oyola says. “It's going to be excellent.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Youth play soccer on a dirt soccer field in the Cooperativa San Francisco neighborhood of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A boy practices at a Barcelona FC-sponsored soccer academy in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A boy controls the ball during practice at a Barcelona FC-sponsored soccer academy in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Boys practice at a Barcelona FC-sponsored soccer academy in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Soldiers patrol past shops selling soccer jerseys at a market in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train passed through the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday, killing at least 23 people and wounding over 70 others, officials said.

The force of the explosion caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online.

The attack happened in an area where security forces are usually stationed, badly damaging several nearby buildings and smashing more than a dozen vehicles parked along the road, according to witnesses and images circulating on social media.

Doctors at local hospitals said they had received the wounded, with 20 in critical condition. Three security officials told The Associated Press the bodies were transported to hospitals following the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to speak to the media.

The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, which demands independence from Pakistan’s central government, has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to reporters. The militant group said it targeted a train carrying security personnel.

Quetta is the capital of insurgency-hit Balochistan province. The oil- and mineral-rich region has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency. The insurgents have frequently targeted security forces, government installations and civilians in the province and elsewhere in the country.

“We strongly condemn the targeting of innocent civilians and are deeply saddened by the loss of precious human lives. Terrorist elements deserve no leniency,” said Shahid Rind, Balochistan provincial government spokesman.

He said following the explosion, a medical emergency was declared at hospitals in Quetta, and an investigation has been launched.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, calling it a “cowardly act of terrorism" in a post on X and offering condolences to the families of the victims.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti strongly condemned the attack in Quetta, saying the militants targeted “innocent civilians, including women and children,” vowing to “hunt (them down)” in a post on X.

Bugti and the federal government in Islamabad often use the phrase “Fitna al-Hindustan” to refer to the BLA, which they allege is backed by India. New Delhi denies the allegation.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari denounced the bombing, saying militants and their backers sought to undermine Pakistan’s role in regional and international peace efforts.

The attack came a day after Pakistan said the United States and Iran were close to reaching a memorandum of understanding to end the war in the Middle East that began on Feb. 28 after the U.S. and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic, upending global travel and spiking oil prices. U.S. President Donald Trump had said a deal related to the conflict had been “largely negotiated” following calls with regional allies, including Pakistan.

Zardari promised in a statement that his country “will defeat terrorists, their facilitators, financiers and those providing them safe havens.”

Pakistan and India have long had strained relations and have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is claimed by both in its entirety.

Although Pakistani authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, violence in Baluchistan has persisted.

At least 26 people, including soldiers, were killed in 2024 when a suicide bomber attacked a train station in Balochistan.

Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers transport an injured victim at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

A volunteer, top, helps an injured victim after recovering from an overturned train coach on a railway track at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Children look at an injured person passing through an alley near the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers recover victims from an overturned train coach on a railway track at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Paramilitary soldiers and volunteers transport an injured victim at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Volunteers look for victims from an overturned train coach on a railway track as survivors wait for transport at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)