Ecuador fans wanted to get in on Philly culture — but mistakenly subjected their World Cup team to the ‘Rocky Jinx’ instead
Ecuador hit the post three times in its 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast on Sunday. But was the team’s destiny sealed earlier in the weekend?
When Ecuadorian soccer content creator Leandro de Vera, aka DonFutbol, tied his country’s flag around the Rocky statue’s neck at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps, he was unaware of the butterfly effect he had set in motion.
De Vera inadvertently triggered the “Rocky statue curse” — a jinx that comes into effect when a team’s fans dress up the boxer in opposing team’s gear — at an Ecuadorian fan celebration at the Art Museum on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, two Ecuadorian journalists from Guayaquil’s Radio Diblu had already warned fans not to put flags or jerseys on the statue.
“The people of Philadelphia say doing that doesn’t bring good luck and can make a team lose,” reporter Carlos Morales said standing by the Rocky statue at the base of the Art Museum Saturday. “The recommendation is to take a picture, put your flag next to it, but don’t put anything on him,” reporter Nico Rivera added.
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In the past, multiple NFL fan bases have dressed the statue in their team’s colors prior to a matchup with the Eagles. Most have gone on to see their team lose. Most notably, Vikings fans wrapped a purple towel around Rocky’s waist before being blown out 38-7 in the 2017 NFC Championship. The Patriots, 49ers, and the Commanders have fallen to the same jinx.
Ecuador was no exception. On Sunday, to kick off World Cup play in Philadelphia, Ecuador was defeated by Ivory Coast, 1-0, at Lincoln Financial Field, renamed Philadelphia Stadium for the World Cup. Ivory Coast’s single goal came in the 90th minute. Meanwhile, Ecuador could not catch a break. The team hit the post three times — becoming just the fourth team in World Cup history to do so and go on to lose.
Perhaps it was the emotion, naivete, or the fact that de Vera was standing on the Rocky statue at the top of the steps, rather than the bottom. But, his excitement was apparent when he climbed the statue screaming: “Friends, we are here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rocky is from Ecuador — Rocky Zambrano,” he proclaimed in Spanish, baptizing the Philly icon with a common Ecuadorian last name.
Ecuadorian Instagram commenters reacted in horror, letting the content creator know of the bad omen he had cast upon their team.
“Friends, it’s amazing how much I’ve been insulted for putting the flag on Rocky,” said de Vera in Spanish in a video posted to social media. “I look at my direct messages, and they’re dragging my mamita [mother] through the mud.”
After Ecuador lost, the hate worsened. One fan even approached de Vera to take a photograph with him just to caption it: “with the most insulted person in Ecuador.”
“It’s been tough since the game ended,” de Vera told The Inquirer in Spanish.
» READ MORE: ‘They fought, we won’: Ivory Coast’s World Cup win against Ecuador kicks off FIFA in Philly
De Vera’s own superstitions have made the entire situation hard to deal with. He commonly wears different color socks to send his team good luck, and it hurt him personally to not know about the curse ahead of time. If he did, he would have never touched the statute.
“I was just excited, and there was so much going on I didn’t even realize people were screaming ‘no’ to me until much later,” he said.
De Vera meant no disrespect to his team or to Rocky, he said. He just wanted to bring both Philly and Ecuadorian culture together, hence giving the fictional boxer a temporary Ecuadorian last name.
“I saw the first movie but by the time he was done climbing the stairs; I was so out of breath I couldn’t watch the other movies,” de Vera said jokingly. “Let’s wait until the World Cup ends and I will watch the rest. I owe it to the city.”
‘I think I messed up’
De Vera wasn’t alone in taking the blame.
Colombian social media star Beta Mejía, who is dating Ecuadorian influencer Alejandra Jaramillo, was also in the hot seat after videos of him doing the same went viral. As he wrapped the flag around the statue’s shoulders, shouts of “No” from Ecuadorian fans familiar with the curse rained down the museum steps.
“Parse, I think I messed up,” Mejia said in Spanish on a Sunday video before the match. “God it’s me again, your favorite soldier; I didn’t know, I really didn’t know.”
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Mejia blamed his actions on an act of kindness, saying he was trying to help a fan who had passed him the flag. After the backlash, he looked to backtrack the bad luck. On video, Meijia lit four candles, praying for God to bless the Ecuadorian players with his blood.
“Fear nothing,” Mejia said, ending his video quoting Ecuadorian player Niño Moi (Moisés Caicedo) and rooting for the team to win.
Along with de Vera and Meija, another fan dressed Rocky, attached a custom Rocky jersey to the statue. He explained his rationale on a post to his Instagram:
“This is my good luck charm,” wrote Gigio Benavides Peralta. “Traveling for more than 26 hours, more than 5000km from Loja Ecuador to fulfill my promise to put the T-shirt on Rocky. For if I did that, Ecuador would win the World Cup... Let’s go Ecuador.. thanks to @maconsport and my Aunt Odi who helped me make the shirt.”
Despite the supposed Rocky curse, many Ecuadorians on social media seem to think the bad omen didn’t come from the shirt or flags, but rather from having the president at the match.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa left the small South American country on June 11 for a four day U.S. diplomatic trip meant to build bilateral relationships with the United States. He was captured at the game by FIFA cameras, shocking many Ecuadorians.
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In a post match video posted by Ecuador TV, Noboa was recorded leaving the stadium with his cabinet and a band of security guards.
Ecuadorian fans are heard in the background booing him, surrounding his convoy, calling him “salado” (an Ecuadorian word for someone with or who brings bad luck), and shouting that he “came for a vacation.”
Philadelphians react — and also blame Hard Rock Cafe ‘takeover’
Meanwhile, Philadelphia fans are having a bit of fun with the whole ordeal.
“Attention all teams visiting Philly, if you put your jersey on the Rocky Statue the ghost of Adrian will direct all of your shots towards a goalpost,” one wrote. “She and Paulie haunt the Linc, it’s a thing.”
As one fan pointed out on social media, Ecuador may have been jinxed by its fans flocking to the Market Street Hard Rock Cafe — just as Commanders fans did before their team’s 55-23 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship.
A Commanders fan known as Tailgate Ted proudly proclaimed that his fan base had taken over the chain prior to the 2025 conference championship game. At the time, the video received mass ridicule from the Philadelphia faithful, including Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott, as the restaurant has little cultural significance to the city.
“Oh no the Philly Hard Rock has fallen. Maybe next they will take over Applebees,” one Eagles fan wrote at the time.
On Saturday, Ecuador will face Curaçao in Kansas City before playing Germany in New York on June 25. De Valera is hoping to enact the Rocky curse again — this time for his benefit.
“We are not out of the World Cup, Argentina once lost [their first match] and still won the World Cup,” de Valera said. “But now that I know, I am going to buy a Germany flag for Rocky ahead of the game.”
