Ecuador booked their place in the round of 32 in dramatic fashion, after coming from behind to beat Germany 2-1.
Here are our Scout Notes from the game, which features match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.
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ECUADOR 2-1 GERMANY
- Goals: Angulo, Plata| Sane
- Assists: Vite, Rodriguez | Wirtz
- Tackle bonus: Vite, Caicedo, Franco
- Top points scorers: Angulo (10), Vite (10), Sane (10), Plata (8), Wirtz (5)
TEAM STATS
PLAYER STATS
SCOUT NOTES
- Germany controlled possession in New Jersey, but Ecuador created the superior chances. Die Mannschaft could only muster 0.65 expected goals (xG), compared to Ecuador’s 1.50.
- Germany had already qualified as group winners, yet Julian Nagelsmann opted to make only two alterations to his starting XI, both enforced. Antonio Rüdiger ($5.5m) and David Raum ($4.9m) came in for the injured Nico Schlotterbeck ($5.3m) and Nathaniel Brown ($4.7m).
- Schlotterbeck is ruled out for the rest of the World Cup, but Brown is only carrying a minor injury. His exclusion from Round 3 appeared to be precautionary:
“He’s doing well, training was good today, I think he can play on Monday.” – Julian Nagelsmann on Nathaniel Brown
- Denis Undav ($6.6m) remained on the bench, only appearing for the final 30 minutes. As we head into the round of 32, Julian Nagelsmann seems keen to use him only as an impact substitute.
- As for Ecuador, they made two alterations from the side that drew 0-0 with Curacao in Round 2. Pervis Estupinan ($4.8m) and Jordy Alcivar ($4.9m) made way for Joel Ordonez ($3.9m) and Nilson Angulo ($6.0m).
- In a frantic first half, Leroy Sane’s ($7.4m) early opener from Florian Wirtz’s ($7.5m) clever pass was quickly cancelled out by Angulo’s excellent equaliser. Having failed to score in their first two matches, it was Ecuador’s first goal of the 2026 World Cup!
- Then, Gonzalo Plata ($5.6m) made himself a hero, netting a scrambled winner in the 77th minute.
- With qualification as group winners already secured, it’s fair to say that Germany weren’t quite at it here. Of course, it was a dead rubber for Nagelsmann’s men, but even so, you’d still expect to see a bit more from them, given the strength of the first XI.
- In a lacklustre display, Jamal Musiala ($8.0m) went relatively close, while Kai Havertz ($7.8m) was denied a penalty by VAR and had a header saved. However, Ecuador defended really well in a well-deserved victory.
“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure instead of suddenly switching positions too much. There was too much freestyle. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions. We’re giving the ball away too often, at some point it becomes difficult.” – Julian Nagelsmann
- In contrast, Ecuador moved the ball quickly and caused Germany all sorts of problems. Pedro Vite ($5.2m) was superb, delivering the assist for Angulo’s equaliser. He also racked up nine tackles, earning three extra points.
- Ecuador’s victory leaves them third in Group E, but with four points, they are guaranteed to qualify for the round of 32.
- The result is bad news for Scotland as it reduces their chances of qualifying as one of the best third-place finishers.
- As for Germany, they will play a yet to be decided third place team in the round of 32.
