El Nacional

The Club Deportivo El Nacional, better known as El Nacional, is an Ecuadorian sports institution based in the city of Quito. It was founded on 1 June 1964, although its activities began on 7 March 1960 as a football team called Club Mariscal Sucre. It currently takes part in men's and women's football, although it has also competed at professional and amateur level in basketball, artistic gymnastics and table tennis, among other disciplines. Its men's squad plays in the Serie A of Ecuador; its women's squad, in the Súperliga Femenina of Ecuador; and from 2021 it ventured into the world of video games, creating the eSports division and taking part in the Liga Ecuatoriana de eFootball.

It is a team sponsored by the Armed Forces of Ecuador, whose members are mostly active or retired members of that institution, earning it the nickname "Elenco Militar" ("The Military Squad"). It is characterised by a squad made up solely of players of Ecuadorian nationality, and for this reason it is also known by the epithets "Los Puros Criollos" or "La Gloria del Fútbol Ecuatoriano". It is also historically recognised as a youth-academy club that works on the development of young footballers, this being the main source of players for the first team.

In terms of sporting achievements, it is one of the most decorated and recognised institutions in Ecuadorian football, with 13 national titles and 7 national runner-up finishes, and one international runner-up finish, having been runner-up of the Copa Ganadores de Copa in 1970, in addition to several youth-division titles. It is the only Ecuadorian team to win two three-peats, which is why it is known as "El Bi-Tri". Its greatest rivalry is with Liga de Quito, as they are the two most decorated and popular teams in the Ecuadorian capital; together they play the Clásico Quiteño, in which El Nacional holds a historical superiority. It also has a great rivalry with Barcelona Sporting Club, the most popular team in Guayaquil.

The club plays its home matches at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, where it shares home ground duties with Universidad Católica, Cumbayá, Cuniburo, América and Deportivo Quito. The stadium, known as "El Coloso del Batán", has a capacity of 35,258 people and is owned by the Concentración Deportiva de Pichincha (operated under concession from the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito). The Ecuador women's national football team also habitually plays its home matches at this venue. Its sports headquarters, the Complejo Deportivo BGR, is located in the Tumbaco valley, near Quito.