Key events
Raphaël Jucobin was at New York New Jersey Stadium. His report is in. Congratulations to Ecuador, commiserations to Germany/Scotland, and thanks to you, dear reader, for sticking with this MBM. See you soon!
Tonight is all about Ecuador, but what of Germany? Their defeat puts an end to an 11-game winning streak, and bang goes their chance of winning all three group games for the first time since the 2006 tournament. But they were already through as group winners, and given they failed to get out of the groups in 2018 and 2022, that can’t be sniffed at. Whether that was the performance of a team primed to go deep this year is another matter altogether.
Here’s how Côte d’Ivoire claimed their knockout place in the other Group E game. Leander Schaerlaeckens reports.
Post-match postbag. “I hesitated to send this earlier because I’m cursed but Ecuador were 1000 times better than Germany. Their passion, energy, entertainment … they played like athlete as artist giving it their all vs athlete as salary-man professional going through the motions. Germany has been very successful but in the 20 years I’ve followed soccer I’ve never got a whiff of the joga bonito spirit from them. Sure there are different styles, but personally as a fan I appreciate some heart so giving a shout out to Ecuador and Peacock for contracting with Telemundo … the US English language broadcasts are needless depression” – Liisa Sletzinger
“Ecuador were really worth their qualification, outplaying Germany in the second half. Their counter attacks were sublime. Their manager Beccacece reminds me a bit of Claudio Caniggia, the blonde forward who partnered one Diego Maradona. A fairytale, considering their woeful start to the campaign. Losing to Ivory Coast, drawing against Curacao and beating the mighty Germans. Angulo was superb” – Colum Fordham
“With the rank stupidity shown in giving away two goals in their last game, Scotland have only themselves to blame” – Robert Ames
“Am I the only person thinking Germany must wish Harry Kane could play for them? It seems that is the exact player they are crying out for. It’s great!” – Brendan Large
That Ecuador winner was bad news for Scotland. According to the stats gurus at Opta, their chances of making the last 32 is now just 7.3%. And even that sounds overly generous.
A quick clarification regarding that PSG stat, to be fair to Ian Darke: “The stat was number of different scorers by club, not number of goals,” writes Jonathan Lieb. “Four Sunderland players have scored five goals: Brobbey 2, Xhaka 1, Isidor 1, Angulo 1. PSG have six scorers with one each: Bradley Barcola, Ibrahim Mbaye, João Neves, Ousmane Dembélé, Nuno Mendes, Achraf Hakimi.”
The crowd go ballistic! Ecuador, to a man, cavort around the pitch of the New York New Jersey Stadium. Their coach Sebastián Beccacece – who might not have been their coach for much longer had his team not won this game – climbs into one of the stands to share the moment with a loved one. Then he goes down to celebrate with all of his loved ones dressed in yellow. A much-deserved victory! Germany scored after two minutes, but Ecuador simply refused to accept their fate. They were the better side for the remaining 88 minutes (plus drinks, plus added time) and their reward for the comeback is a certain place in the knockout stage. They’ll be one of the best eight third-place finishers, and the team who came second in Conmebol qualifying – ahead of Brazil – have realised their potential just in the nick of time. What a performance!
FULL TIME: Ecuador 2-1 Germany
The whistle goes, and 55,000 Ecuador fans go wild, wild, wild! Ecuador make it through to the next round!
90 min +8: The likely game-winner Plata dribbles down the left and draws a clumsy foul from Gross. That should be that, because there’s no way Ecuador are putting this one into the box and handing possession over.
90 min +5: Germany continue to press Ecuador back. Gross lashes a wild long-distance effort over the bar. On the touchline, Ecuador manager Sebastián Beccacece, whose job was on the line tonight, and who my esteemed colleague Rob Smyth accurately describes as “a cross between Diego Forlan and Curtis Stigers” – jinks around in an understandably agitated style.
90 min +3: Undav barges his way into the box down the left and holds off Torres. He shoots, but the angle’s too tight and he ripples the side netting. “This is like watching nails get hammered very slowly into our coffin,” writes Scotland fan James Humphries.
90 min +2: This is proper attack versus defence now. Ecuador have been exceptional. Can they hold out?
90 min +1: Raum crosses from the left. Yet again. He’s been superb. The ball’s only half cleared, and Thiaw has time to shoot from the edge of the box … but not as much time as he wants. He’s eventually swarmed. Shoot, man!
90 min: The free kick leads to an elongated game of head tennis on the edge of the Ecuadorian box. Eventually the ball’s cleared, but Ecuador are beginning to sit deep, desperately holding on to what they have. And they’ll need to do it for another seven minutes.
89 min: Plata is booked for a two-footed flying lunge on Musiala, out on the left touchline. A free kick in a dangerous position. Other referees might have brandished red for that; Plata was out of control.
88 min: Raum whips the free kick to the near post, and Estupinan is forced to turn behind for a corner. Raum takes that dead ball too … but that’s cleared easily by Ecuador.
87 min: Raum has sent a few good crosses in from the left. Beier can’t win a header at the far stick. But he then draws a foul from Estupinan outside the box. Raum comes across to take the free kick …
85 min: A double change for Ecuador as Yeboah and Angulo, excellent both, make way for Torres and Jordy Caicedo.
84 min: Vite drives down the left and draws a clumsy foul from Beier. All of a sudden, the clock is Ecuador’s friend. As things stand, they’ll almost certainly make it through to the knockouts as one of the best eight third-placed finishers.
82 min: Germany have hardly had a touch of note since falling behind. This has been an excellent performance by Ecuador, who have battled so well to keep their dream alive. Germany haven’t been good, mind.
80 min: Ecuador’s tails are up now. Plata nearly releases Preciado into the Germany box down the inside-right channel, but Neuer is live to the danger this time and comes off his line to smother.
79 min: Neuer didn’t cover himself in glory there. He stooped to collect the flick-on, but as the ball dropped, Plata beat him to it. The corner from Ecuador’s perspective was perfectly executed, though.
GOAL! Ecuador 2-1 Germany (Plata 77)
The corner is sent in from the right. A vicious whip. Rodriguez flicks a header on. The ball drops to Plata, six yards out. Plata flipper-flicks a shot across Neuer and into the top-right corner! The 55,000 Ecuador fans go wild!
77 min: More big chances! Sane chunks a shot into Galindez’s arms from 12 yards. Then up the other end, Rodriguez spins and shoots, Stiller blocking the effort out for a corner, from which …
76 min: I’d missed Beier coming on for Nmecha. Apologies. Fortunately for Ecuador, Pacho doesn’t miss him as Raum crosses dangerously from the left. He eases his man out of the way, six yards out, and a big chance goes by for Germany.
74 min: Wirtz is replaced by Gross.
72 min: Estupinan replaces Hincapie. And when play resumes, Tah and Neuer get in each other’s way while the keeper attempts to claim a ball sent down the middle. Rodriguez nips off with the ball, but he’s been forced well wide left. He cuts back, and a cross finds Plata in the middle. Plata aims for the top right but hooks over. Germany get away with a huge one. Tah and Neuer engage enthusiastically in Hegelian dialectic.
70 min: A hydration break, and is it possible to drink humble pie? Because there are other clubs to consider in the current World Cup scoring chart. “Sarr, Kamada and Munoz have each scored two. That makes six for Palace,” writes Timothy O’Keeffe, while Owen Linderholm adds: “ … and duh. Real Madrid on at least eight. Man City on four. Etc.”
68 min: Wirtz juggles the ball to make space in the centre circle, then one-twos with Undav down the inside-left channel. He gives the ball to Undav a second time, before the in-form sub is swarmed. Nice move, though.
67 min: Nothing comes of the free kick. Ecuador recycle possession, and Rodriguez crosses from the right. Easy for Neuer. “I am Scottish, and I thank Sarah Rothwell for her concern, but urge her to find something else to occupy her time,” writes Simon McMahon. “Drinking, perhaps. Or crocheting football shirts for cats. You can thank me for it later, Sarah, once it’s confirmed that Scotland have missed out on qualification for the last 32 by a single goal.”
66 min: Thiaw clips Angulo out on the left flank. A free kick coming up in a dangerous position. Meanwhile, on that half-time PSG/Sunderland six/four goals stat reported by Mac Millings … “Messi and thus Inter Miami on five goals, surely?” questions Owen Linderholm, who already knows the answer is yes. Oh Mac! Oh me! Oh us!
65 min: Ecuador respond to Germany’s double change with one of their own, removing Franco and Valencia, and sending on Rodriguez and Preciado.
