Ecuador coach Reinaldo Rueda has praised his side for battling back to beat Honduras 2-1 at the World Cup.

Despite going behind in Curitiba on Friday night, two goals from captain Enner Valencia turned the match in favour of the Ecuadorians to give them a fighting chance of reaching round two.

"The match panned out as we imagined it would. Both teams needed to win and both tried to play well. Even though we went behind, we got our goals at decisive moments and that put us in charge of the match," Rueda told FIFA.com.

"We know that reaching the next round isn't entirely in our own hands but we need to focus on our own game. We'll have to play as well or even better than we did today to beat France because they're a side that have grown a lot in the last few months."

Ecuador play their final game in Group E on Wednesday when they face the French in Rio de Janeiro.