Iván Hurtado

Hurtado holds the record as the youngest Ecuadorian to play for his country at just 17 years and 285 days. He has appeared in more FIFA World Cup qualification matches than any other player in history, and also held the record for most overall international caps by South American player until it was surpassed by Lionel Messi in December 2022. Hurtado was one of the key players who played a major role in securing a first ever World Cup berth for Ecuador in 2002. He had such an impressive tournament, that he was appointed to succeed former Ecuadorian star Alex Aguinaga to be the captain of a new generation of an ever-improving Ecuador side.

At the 2013 Ecuadorian general election, Hurtado was chosen as member of the National Assembly for the National Constituency. Hurtado serves as member of PAIS Alliance. Agustín Delgado and Ulises de la Cruz, former teammates of Hurtado at the national team, also serve for the Pais Alliance in the National Assembly.

Hurtado was called up for the first two 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Brazil, miserably losing both matches. As a consequence, he along with teammate Ulises de la Cruz, was excluded from the squad for the next round against Paraguay. Hurtado announced that this would be his final qualifying campaign and possibly the World Cup should Ecuador qualify. He stated, "There are a crop of talented and personable youngsters coming through now, and they deserve to have their chance like I had mine."

After the FIFA World Cup in Germany, where Hurtado shone, it was reported that high-profile clubs such as English Premier League's Wigan Athletic, and Spanish La Liga's Recreativo Huelva and Villarreal were highly interested in him. However none of these rumors were accurate, and after spending six more months with Al Arabi, Hurtado moved to Colombia where he played for Atlético Nacional, he led the defence of the team, becoming captain in the back-to-back titles in 2007. In mid-2009, he returned to Deportivo Quito for the remainder of their season. In 2011, he returned to play for Barcelona SC for one year, then he finished his career with Grecia in 2012.

His best performances came in Ecuador's dream tournament in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. His defence left stars such as Polish forward Jacek Krzynowek, Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope, and English players Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard desperate for goals. However, his form declined in a space of just six months. Nevertheless, he played for Ecuador at the 2007 Copa América, where his performance was very poor and criticised by many of his countrymen as the main reason for Ecuador's early elimination. Hurtado started the first two games against Chile and Mexico but was on the bench the whole game against Brazil.

Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo (born 16 August 1974) is an Ecuadorian politician and former professional footballer who played as a centre back. With 168 international appearances for Ecuador between 1992 and 2014, he was the most capped South American male footballer of all time before Lionel Messi overtook him during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the 17th-most-capped male international footballer.