Quito and Olmedo, matches of the Ecuadorian national team are also the most viewed sporting events in the country. Ecuador has qualified in the final rounds of both the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World CupsAnd when the FIFA decided to ban football games from being played at 2,500 meters and higher above sea level, the Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa along with his counterparts in Peru, Colombia and Bolivia issued strong protests (they won).

But while football is the first love of this nation tennis too is played with great pleasure, notably among the middle and upper classes and some Ecuadorian tennis players such as Nicolas Lapentti, Francisco Segura and Andres Gomez are very well known. Bullfighting is of course amongst the oldest and most loved sports of the nation, and the fabulous display of bulls and matadors locked in battle can be watched at most big festivals and on a professional level in Quito.

Basketball and volleyball enjoy a certain amount of favor, but the Ecuadorian version of Ecuavolley (or three-person volleyball) is very popular, and the Guayaquil Marathon (began in 2005) is a much-participated in foot race. A sporty nation by and large some of the other sports enjoyed by the Ecuadorians and the tourists are hockey, Capoeira, mountain biking, motocross and super cross dirt biking, rock climbing, surfing, whitewater kayaking, surfing and paintball.

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