Ecuador qualified for the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, after defeating Germany (2-1) on Thursday evening, in the third round of Group E competitions, at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
With this win, Ecuador raised its score to 4 points in third place in Group F, while Germany's balance was frozen at 6 points in the lead, thanks to the result of the direct encounter (2-1) against runners-up Côte d'Ivoire, who defeated Curaçao (2-0) at the same time.
Qualifying among the best teams in third place, Ecuador is close to facing England, the leader of Group 12, in the round of 32, if the Three Lions maintain their lead.
It took Leroy Sane just a minute and 49 seconds to score the machines' goal in today's match, becoming Germany's second-fastest goal in the history of its World Cup participation, behind Ernst Lehner's first-minute goal against Austria in the 1934 edition.
Sane's goal sparked a wide refereeing controversy, in light of the suspicion of a foul on his teammate Aleksandar Pavlovic against Ecuador's player, Pedro Viti, just before the goal, but Ecuador quickly equalized through its player Nelson Angulo, from a rocket shot in the 9th minute.
Catastrophic defensive gaps
In the 47th minute, the American referee, Tori Pinso, awarded a penalty in favor of the Machines' striker, Kai Havertz, but the Wisdom canceled the kick after reviewing video technology, which showed that there was a foul by Leroy Sane against an Ecuadorian player in the middle of the field, at the beginning of the German attack.
The Latin team played with more attacking boldness in the second half, and made several attempts on the goal of veteran Manuel Neuer, before succeeding in shaking the net in the 77th minute through Gonzalo Plata, who snatched the ball before the Bayern Munich keeper.
The German team pressed hard in the final minutes to realize the equalizer, but the Ecuadorian players persevered in defending the dream of qualifying, and succeeded in maintaining the victory until the end of the match.
Although Germany retained the top spot in the group, the defeat exposed serious gaps in their defence and the decline of veteran goalkeeper Manuel, who conceded 4 goals to just 3 saves in the current World Cup.
Ivory Coast makes history
Ivory Coast achieved an unprecedented achievement by reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time, after three previous appearances (2006, 2010 and 2014) in which they were eliminated from the group stage.
Nicolas Pepe was the highlight of the match, opening the scoring in the seventh minute, before adding a second goal in the 64th minute, giving the Elephants a well-deserved win over Curaçao and raising his team's tally to six points from a win over Ecuador (1-0) and a loss to Germany (1-2).
In the next round, the Ivory Coast national team awaits the match against the runners-up of Group N, which will be decided between France and Norway, with the match to be held next Monday.
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