Ecuador Beats Germany and Survives World Cup Group Stage

Ecuador’s men’s national team has come back from the verge of elimination to secure its place in the next round of the World Cup.

After being held scoreless in a draw with Curacao and a loss to the Ivory Coast, Ecuador finally got the ball to the back of the net—twice. “La Tri” managed to beat Germany 2–1 on June 25 in front of ecstatic fans outside New York City.

Germany struck first, however. Leroy Sané deflected the ball past goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez deep within the six-yard box just two minutes into the match. That goal resulted from a play that the entire Ecuador bench and several commentators openly said should have been waved off as a foul.

However, Ecuador rallied and found the equalizer seven minutes later on a hard kick by Nilson Angulo from outside the box.

The 1–1 stalemate held for the rest of the first half and most of the second half. Ecuador finally got the lead 77 minutes into the match. A corner kick deflected off Kevin Rodriguez and bounced off Gonzalo Plata’s boot—which he slipped right in front of the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer—into the net. 

La Tri’s defense held back Germany for the remaining 13 minutes and the extra seven minutes of stoppage time to secure their tournament-saving victory. The team erupted in smiles, tears, hugs, and jumps to family in the stands as they held on to play at least one more game.

This win secures Ecuador’s place as one of the eight third-place finishers of the group stage that advance to the 32-team knockout round. If they had not won this game, they would have been eliminated.

Germany had already secured their spot in the knockout round after beating Curacao and the Ivory Coast earlier in the round robin phase. Despite the loss, they emerge as the winners of group E.

At the same time, on June 25, the Ivory Coast secured second place in the group and its own advancement to the round of 32 by beating debutant Curaçao 2–0 in Philadelphia.

Both goals were earned by forward Nicolas Pépé, who found the back of the net seven minutes into the match, and then again in the second half by the 64th minute.

At the time of this article’s publication, it is still unclear which teams Germany, the Ivory Coast, and Ecuador will have to face next week.

However, this result means that Curacao’s first-ever World Cup appearance has come to an end. Other teams will be joining them soon, especially as Ecuador’s win puts other third-place teams such as Scotland at a possibly bigger risk of elimination.