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Ecuador was one of the biggest surprises of the group stage, coming from behind to defeat 2-1 against Germany this Thursday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the closing of the .
The match kicked off with an early blow: Leroy Sané opened the scoring for the Germans in the second minute with a left-footed shot that left the Ecuadorian goalkeeper with no options.
The response from La Tri came quickly. In the ninth minute, Nilson Angulo struck a right-footed shot from outside the box that got past Manuel Neuer and made it 1-1, scoring the first goal for Ecuador in this World Cup.
The match remained tied for much of the second half, with Germany dominating possession (61% to 39% for Ecuador) and generating more shots overall (11 to seven), although both teams matched in shots on target with three each.
The most decisive play came in the 47th minute, when the VAR canceled a penalty for Germany after detecting a prior foul on Pedro Vite in the midfield, thereby nullifying the spot kick that Kai Havertz would have taken.
With the score still tied, Gonzalo Plata appeared in the 77 minute to seal the match with the winning goal, marking the final 2-1 that sparked Ecuadorian euphoria in the stands of MetLife Stadium.
The match was characterized by physical intensity: Ecuador received three yellow cards —Piero Hincapié in the 43rd minute, Alan Franco in the 50th, and Plata himself in the 89th— compared to just one for Germany, which was given to Aleksandar Pavlović in the 44th minute, who was also substituted at halftime.
With this result, Ecuador concludes Group E with four points (one win, one draw, and one loss) and a goal difference of zero, which is enough to qualify as the best third team in the group.
The national team arrived at this match in a critical situation, with only one point after drawing 0-0 with Curacao and losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast in their debut.
Germany finishes first in the group with six points, Ivory Coast second also with six, and Curacao is eliminated with one point.
The top three from Group E —Germany, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador— advance to the round of 16 in the 2026 World Cup, where La Tri will find out who their next opponent will be in the following round.
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