Ecuador forward Enner Valencia has handed over the captain's armband to Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo ahead of the team's round of 32 clash against Mexico at the Azteca on Wednesday morning.
The decision was announced by the 36-year-old Valencia in front of the squad over the weekend, following Ecuador's 2-1 group-stage victory over Germany.
Caicedo, 24, has earned 64 caps since his senior international debut in October 2020.
He previously captained Ecuador during a friendly win against New Zealand in November and took the armband in the second half of the Germany match when Valencia was substituted.
The midfielder is known for his high-energy style and defensive contributions in the Premier League.
He recorded more interceptions than any other player in both the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons after joining Chelsea from Brighton in 2023 for a near-record fee of around €120 million.
"The way he played the ball with both feet, there was something special about it," said Ivan Guerra, who discovered Caicedo at age 13 during a street game, to The Athletic.
Caicedo has maintained a pass completion rate of over 90 percent overall and 89 percent on vertical forward balls last season, surpassing other English top-flight midfielders like Declan Rice.
"I won't stop until I collapse. I never give up.
I'm used to playing like that," Caicedo told BBC Sport regarding his relentless work rate.
Scoring remains a secondary attribute for the midfielder, who managed five goals in 43 appearances for Chelsea last season.
Valencia remains Ecuador's all-time leading scorer with 49 goals in 108 appearances.
He netted six times during World Cup qualification but has failed to score from ten shots in the tournament's opening three games.
"Now I'm playing alongside Enner Valencia in the national team after I watched him play in that World Cup, for me, he's an idol, I'm learning a lot from him," Caicedo said to the official Chelsea website.
Ecuador advanced to the knockout stage for just the second time in their history after securing third place in Group E.
They opened with a 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast and a 0-0 draw with Curacao, before goals from Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata overturned an early strike by Leroy Sane to beat Germany 2-1.
