Yes it was possible! Historic victory and ticket to sixteenths of the World Cup 2026. Ecuador came back against Germany (2-1) in a memorable match at the New York/New Jersey headquarters in which they knew how to suffer to take a victory that Gonzalo Plata tied in the final stretch.
Leroy Sané put the German team ahead in the 2nd minute, but Nilson Angulo, seven minutes later, and Plata, after a corner in the 77th minute, certified three vital points for the Ecuadorian “La Tricolor”.
The goals came at the right time after a blank loss against Ivory Coast (1-0) and the draw with Curacao (0-0), in Group “E”. Coach Sebastián Beccacece’s team has thus avoided being one of the great disappointments of the group stage.
“La Tri” advances as one of the best third parties, with 4 points. Germany, which had already secured the lead before starting to play, showed up at MetLife Stadium without desire or intensity.
Both teams touched up few pieces compared to the second day. Beccacece went on the attack and dared with an offensive trident formed by Nilson Angulo, Gonzalo Plata and Enner Valencia, to which John Yeboah also joined as a surprise factor.
Nagelsmann tweaked the defense forced by Nico Schlotterbeck’s long-term injury. Antonio Rüdiger, Real Madrid center back, was his replacement. The other change was the entry of David Raum for Nathaniel Brown, also with physical problems, at left back.
The beginning was an exchange of blows. “The Mannschaft” gave the first in a controversial move. Pavlović controlled a throw-in with his chest and raised his foot at the height of Pedro Vite’s head, who quickly dropped to the ground.
The play continued, the Bayern Munich midfielder saw Wirtz and he saw Sané, who shot low to make it 0-1. goal and controversy.
Vite stayed on the grass waiting for the divine intervention of the VAR, although the decision of the American referee Tori Penso prevailed amid the angry protests of the Ecuadorians.
Beccacece’s plan was falling apart. However, it was Germany itself that was in charge of reactivating it.
“La Tri”’s goal came from nowhere. In a series of rejections, Angulo took possession, headed towards the area and unleashed a right hand, not very tight, but dry.
Pavlović failed to block the Sunderland winger’s shot and Neuer failed to stretch enough. Ecuador’s first goal in this 2026 World Cup almost 200 minutes later.
The tie spurred Beccacece’s team on. They began to believe that they could defeat the four-time world champion for the first time in history. Yeboah advanced to the right. Rüdiger was not Schlotterbeck. Plata and Enner tried to surprise the counterattack.
Meanwhile, the German team watched the minutes pass. Zero desire and, furthermore, Pacho, Hincapié and Ordóñez were gigantic. Only Havertz tried with a header before the break.
The second half started with scare. Nagelsmann’s men almost found themselves with a penalty committed on Havertz. Although this time the VAR did intervene and warned Penso of a foul at the beginning of Sané’s play on Vite.
From there, the game began to get tangled up with fouls and interruptions. Sané and Angulo were the only ones willing to liven up the afternoon. Valencia tried a volley from a distance and ran into Neuer.
The German goalkeeper was about to give his rival some joy in an indecision with Tah that almost ended in a goal. Moisés Caicedo shot poorly and Plata, with everything in his favor, failed to hit the target again. Again the aim…
All that pent-up frustration was dissipated by Plata himself, who put his foot just enough to finish a closed corner at the near post. MetLife collapsed, Ecuador celebrated it as a title with ecstatic fans; They are in sixteenths when few believed.
FOR THE 18 MILLION ECUADORIANS WHO TRUSTED, END OF THE MATCH
• #ECUxDEU • #FWC • #UnSoloEcuador • pic.twitter.com/6RZ14PpAKO
— La Tri 🇪🇨 (@LaTri) June 25, 2026
So they aligned
– Ecuador (2): Hernán Galindez; Alan Franco (m.64, Angelo Preciado); Piero Hincapié (m.71, Pervis Estupiñán), Joel Ordóñez, Willian Pacho; Pedro Vite, Moisés Caicedo, John Yeboah (d.85, Félix Torres); Nilson Angulo (m.85, Jordy Caicedo), Gonzalo Plata and Enner Valencia (m.64, Kevin Rodríguez)
– Selector: Sebastián Beccacece (Argentine)
– Germany (1): Manuel Neuer, Antonio Rüdiger, Jonathan Tah, Joshua Kimmich (m.60, Malick Thiaw), David Raum; Aleksandar Pavlović (m.46, Angelo Stiller), Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz (m.73, Pascal Gross) Felix Nmecha (m.64, Maximilian Beier); Leroy Sané and Kai Havertz (m.60, Deniz Undav)
– Selector: Julian Nagelsmann
– Goals: 0-1, m.2: Sané. 1-1, m.9: Angle. 2-1, m.77: Silver
– Referee: Tori Penso (United States). He admonished Hincapié (m.43) and Pavlović (m.44), Franco (m.50) and Plata (m.89)
– Incidents: Match of the third day of Group “E” played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (United States) before 80,663 spectators
(With a report from Carlos Meneses, from EFE)
