{"id":43617,"date":"2026-06-26T03:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/43617\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T03:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:27:11","slug":"ecuador-fight-back-to-shock-germany-and-reach-knockout-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/43617\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecuador fight back to shock Germany and reach knockout stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ecuador’s Kevin Rodriguez (left) and Germany’s Malick Thiaw battle for the ball during the World Cup Group E soccer match in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York, June 25, 2026. (PHOTO \/ AP)<\/p>\n

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey – An increasingly desperate Ecuador stunned Germany 2-1 in their final Group E game on Thursday to drag their World Cup campaign out of the flames and qualify for a place in the last 32.<\/p>\n

Needing a win — or a miracle — to keep their \u200bhopes alive, the South Americans suffered the worst possible start when already-qualified Germany struck in the second minute, with Leroy \u200cSane opening his account at a major international tournament in his 15th appearance at one.<\/p>\n

Ecuador had failed to score in this tournament despite 39 previous attempts, but finally broke their duck with their 40th shot when Nilson Angulo curled the ball beyond Manuel Neuer to spark wild celebrations among the sea of yellow in \u200bthe stands.<\/p>\n

Gonzalo Plata then bundled home the winner with 13 minutes remaining to complete Ecuador’s stirring comeback as their fans erupted \u200bwith joy at the sold-out New York\/New Jersey stadium.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Bosnia end Qatar\u2019s World Cup dream, all but seal knockout berth<\/a><\/p>\n

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (1) is scored on by Ecuador’s Nilson Angulo (20) during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ecuador and Germany in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York, June 25, 2026. (PHOTO \/ AP)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was incredible. We had a lot of faith and \u2060want our fans to know that there are 26 players here that will give their all for everyone in our country,\u201d Plata told \u200breporters.<\/p>\n

“People packed the stadiums wherever we played and made us feel right at home. They deserve this far more than we do. We struggled \u200ba lot in the first two matches but now we\u2019re even more determined.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve learnt that you have to give it your all right up to the last minute, even if the goal doesn\u2019t come early on. Today we struggled right to the end and, thank goodness, it went our way.”<\/p>\n

Germany’s vulnerability exposed again<\/p>\n

Already assured \u200bof qualification as group winners, Germany finished top with six points, ahead of Ivory Coast on goal difference after the African side beat Curacao 2-0. \u200bEcuador have qualified as one of the best eight third-placed teams.<\/p>\n

Ecuador’s Enner Valencia (13) and Germany’s Angelo Stiller (16) and Antonio Ruediger (2) battle for a head ball during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ecuador and Germany in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York, June 25, 2026. (PHOTO \/ AP)<\/p>\n

Germany had been chasing a third win from three Group E matches and a 12th successive \u200cvictory, but \u2060their defensive vulnerabilities were exposed again and they have now conceded in all three group matches.<\/p>\n

“We keep inviting the opposition in with turnovers, making them look good in the process,” captain Joshua Kimmich told reporters.<\/p>\n

“Fortunately, no real harm has been done yet. But it\u2019s clear we can\u2019t afford another defeat. We can\u2019t keep conceding one or two goals every game. We need to minimize our turnover rate; then we can beat \u200banyone.”<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 to reach World Cup knockout stage<\/a><\/p>\n

Germany started explosively, with Sane finishing \u200bleft-footed from just inside the area \u2060in the second minute after Florian Wirtz cleverly found his teammate after a quick throw-in.<\/p>\n

Ecuador protested that Aleksandar Pavlovic had caught Pedro Vite in the head with a raised foot in the build-up, but referee \u200bTori Penso allowed the goal to stand.<\/p>\n

Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez (left) makes a save as he collides with Germany’s Deniz Undav (26) and Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie (3) as Ecuador’s Moises Caicedo (23) looks on during the second half of a World Cup Group E soccer match in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York, June 25, 2026. (PHOTO \/ AP)<\/p>\n

Ecuador, who had arrived under pressure after a defeat by Ivory \u200bCoast and draw \u2060with Curacao, responded swiftly. Angulo curled thee ball into the net from the edge of the box in the ninth minute, with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer slow to react.<\/p>\n

The second half began with more controversy when Penso awarded Germany a penalty after Felix Nmecha played in Kai Havertz, who appeared to \u2060be tripped \u200bby Joel Ordonez.<\/p>\n

After a VAR review, however, the referee overturned the decision for a Germany \u200bfoul in the build-up.<\/p>\n

Clear chances were then limited until Plata struck in the 78th minute, reacting quickest after substitute Kevin Rodriguez flicked on a corner at the near post \u200band stabbing the ball past Neuer to send the stadium into uproar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ecuador’s Kevin Rodriguez (left) and Germany’s Malick Thiaw battle for the ball during the World Cup Group E…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[823,149,5,710,284],"class_list":["post-43617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-ecuador","tag-football","tag-germany","tag-soccer","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}