The matches - to be held at Commbank Stadium in Sydney on 24 March and Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on 28 March - will represent the first time the Socceroos have played on home soil since their historic run to the last-16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November. 

Ecuador, itself an emerging force in South American football, was on the cusp of a similar progression from Group A at the tournament, only to be thwarted by a late Kalidou Koulibaly goal that lifted Senegal into second place.

“What the Subway Socceroos achieved in Qatar both on and off the pitch was history-making and truly united the nation like no other team could," Football Australia chief James Johnson said. "So it’s fantastic Australian football fans finally get the opportunity to celebrate with the team on home soil with these two matches against Ecuador.

“Part of creating the right environment for national team success for us means replicating tournament football by playing higher-ranked opponents and world class teams on a more regular basis.

“Ecuador is another team which competed at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year and has good World Cup pedigree. This follows our announcement last week that the Subway Socceroos will take on England later this year in October.

"These are the types of matches we will seek to secure for the Subway Socceroos in this next FIFA World Cup cycle and as the team moves towards the upcoming AFC Asian Cup.

“During the FIFA World Cup, we witnessed unrivalled scenes of support with live sites across the country led by Melbourne and Sydney, so it’s only fitting those two cities host these matches, where we look forward to celebrating together.

“Football Australia would like to thank both the NSW Government and Victorian Government for their continued support of Australian football and our senior national football teams. Without the support of such committed event partners over many years, hosting international matches such as these would not be possible,” concluded Johnson.