Moises Caicedo has been named Ecuador captain after Enner Valencia passed the armband on to the midfielder.Ecuador will play their first World Cup knockout round game in 20 years when they face co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca at 2am on Wednesday morning [UK Time].Valencia has handed the captain’s armband to Caicedo, who will now skipper Ecuador at the World CupGettyAnd they’ll do so with Caicedo as skipper after Valencia made the decision to step down as captain following Ecuador’s successful progression to the round-of-32.The 36-year-old, who scored three of Ecuador’s four goals at the 2022 World Cup, formally announced the decision in front of the squad over the weekend.Valencia played a key role as Ecuador made the 2026 World Cup, scoring six times in qualifying.However, the experienced striker is yet to net at the tournament, despite firing off ten shots in the opening three matches.Ecuador at the World CupThe South American nation made a sub-par start to their campaign in North America as they fell to a late 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast in their opening match.And despite dominating possession, Ecuador failed to break tournament debutants Curacao down in a 0-0 draw six days later.It meant that they needed to beat European giants Germany in order to secure progression to the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup.They claimed the required three points, however, as goals from Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata cancelled out Leroy Sane’s early strike as Ecuador booked a knockout spot with a 2-1 win over Julian Nagelsmann’s side.Caicedo ended the victory over Die Mannschaft with the captain’s armband after Valencia was withdrawn midway through the second half at the New York New Jersey Stadium.The Chelsea star is viewed as the cornerstone for this exciting Ecuador squad.View Tweet: https://t.co/c2xT6N3S53Caicedo and Valencia are looking to fire Ecuador into the last-16 for the first time since the 2006 World CupGETTY‘He’s an idol’And Caicedo hopes to have the same impact on the up and coming Ecuador stars as Valencia had on the 24-year-old.Caicedo recently revealed that he was inspired by Valencia at the 2014 World Cup, where the striker scored all three Ecuador goals.Now playing alongside one another at their second World Cup, the Chelsea midfielder is hoping he can do the same for the next generation of Ecuadorian players.“I remember that moment because it’s so special for me – now I want to motivate the other young players to keep doing the right things to achieve where I am,” Caicedo told the official Chelsea website.“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.“To be honest, I am so excited to be playing my second World Cup alongside him.”World Cup WhatsAppDon't miss an update from talkSPORT in our dedicated World Cup WhatsApp channel.Search for ‘talkSPORT World Cup’ in your ‘Updates’ tab on WhatsApp and we’ll drop the proper, unfiltered football chat straight to your lock screen—no fluff, just pure talkSPORT energy.It’s where you’ll find out all the new rules to watch out for, England and Scotland reaction and big match player ratings. Plus there will be loads of debates on the biggest talking points as Haaland, Mbappe, Kane and the biggest names in football descend on America, Canada and Mexico.