With a stunning performance, Ecuador defeated Germany 2-1 in New Jersey and qualified for the “32” of the World Cup. “La Tricolore” wanted only a victory and achieved it, pulling off the biggest surprise -so far- at the 2026 World Cup. The Germans held on to first place in Group 5 with 6 points, with a better goal difference than the second-placed Ivory Coast.

In just the 2nd minute, Leroy Sane opened the scoring, leaving… promises of an easy night for the Germans. But Sebastian Bekasese’s players were determined to exhaust any chance of qualifying. They equalized immediately (9′) with a superb goal by Angulo from a pass by Witte and dominated the entire first half, limiting the “Manchester United” to a passive role.

With Ta, Rudiger on a bad day and Neuer again not inspiring confidence, Ecuador fought for the surprise, missed a great opportunity with Plata in the 74th minute and in the 78th minute the same player took advantage of another Neuer inertia and scored 2-1. Thus, Ecuador, who in the previous match failed to defeat Curacao, was 100% fair and square against Germany and reached 4 points, which essentially secures them a place in the next phase, as one of the 8 best third-place finishers.
Referee: Tori Penso (USA)
Yellow cards: Incapie, Franco – Pavlović

The compositions of the two teams:

EQUATORIAL (Sebastian Becasese): Galindes, Incapie (71′ Estupinan), Ordonies, Pacho, Vité, Franco (64′ Preciado), M. Caicedo, Jeboa (85′ Torres), Valencia (64′ Rodríguez), Plata, Angulo (85′ J. Caicedo)

GERMANY (Julian Nagelsmann): Neuer, Rudiger, Ta, Kimmich (60′ Theo), Raum, Pavlovic, Musiala, Wirtz (73′ Gross), Sane, Nmeca (64′ Bayer), Havertz (60′ Udav)