Breathtaking Ecuador become World Cup dark horses and expose Germany’s biggest problem

Ecuador battled, scrapped and clawed their way to this famous World Cup comeback victory over Germany. A deserved 2-1 win to advance to the knockout stage for the second-ever time and ensure redemption for maligned coach Sebastian Beccacece.

They finish third in Group E, in another blow to Scotland’s hopes of becoming one of the eight third-placed teams to advance, with their manager clambering into the stands like he had won Wimbledon in what promises to be a wild New York party.

This was a performance of great intensity, but after failing to score in this tournament after two games; an exquisite finish from Nilson Angulo and a gift from Manuel Neuer sealed the deal here. Once the safest pair of hands in football, the Bayern stopper has been shaky in the United States and his presence further exposes Germany’s unstable World Cup hopes.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side wilted under the intense atmosphere, with a third of the estimated 900,000 Ecuadorians in the United States living here in New York, a yellow blaze from the stands willed their team back into the game and past the four-time champions.

Tasked with a tricky scenario, with progress and top spot assured after two wins from two, Nagelsmann resisted rotation and opted for a strong team in pursuit of synergy and momentum. Yet a desperate Ecuador rallied, with Gonzalo ‌Plata’s toe enough to settle this one and pile on the pressure for Neuer and Germany.

Only playing after Nagelsmann’s controversial move to ditch Oliver Baumann, despite the Hoffenheim No 1 failing to put a foot wrong, the Germany boss had remarked how the 40-year-old Neuer “didn’t need to settle in at his age” and that he could “handle pressure situations.” Not here and not during a gripping second half as Ecuador capitalised on his fragile presence, further unsettling a centre-back pairing of Antonio Rudiger and Jonathan Tah, with Nico Schlotterbeck’s absence keenly felt.

Germany lacked control and their performance was littered with mistakes, yet they appeared destined for nine points from three games after a perfect start. Aleksandar Pavlovic’s fancy footwork after two minutes was balletic, yet his boot brushed Pedro Vite’s face. The referee allowed play to continue and a neat exchange with Florian Wirtz eventually saw the ball find its way to Leroy Sane, who swept the ball home. Ecuador were furious, yet their appeals were futile, as VAR maintained there was insufficient contact to even review the incident.

But Ecuador refused to feel sorry for themselves and burst into life, notably through Angulo, whose blast punished a sloppy mistake from Felix Nmecha. The Sunderland winger, now the fourth Black Cat to score at this World Cup, with only Paris Saint-Germain (six) possessing more scorers, cut inside and curled a delicious strike first through the legs of Pavlovic and low past Neuer into the corner.

The intensity left Germany shaking, with their sloppiness on the ball infectious: Rudiger passed to nobody to gift Ecuador a throw-in and elevate the volume further.

Moises Caicedo, operating between his centre-backs Joel Ordonez and Willian Pacho, relished his role in orchestrating Ecuador’s possession at a furious pace. The Chelsea midfielder’s four tackles, two clearances and an interception in the first-half underlined Germany’s lack of control.

Germany threatened intermittently, with Kai Havertz leaping high and over Pacho, but the Arsenal forward’s header was planted straight at Hernan Galindez after David Raum’s delightful, curling cross.

Tah then replicated his defensive partner Rudiger in passing to an invisible teammate in a further example of carelessness on the ball under Nagelsmann.

For all of Ecuador’s excellent work though, another sluggish start to a half almost left them behind once more. Joel Ordonez scissor-kicked Havertz to concede a blatant penalty, only for Beccacece and his Ecuador players to furiously protest again. Sane had clearly clipped Vite in the build-up, but the infringement was deep in midfield. Unlike Lionel Messi’s first goal against Austria, where Alexis Mac Allister had appeared to foul Xaver Schlager, this one was chalked off by VAR.

In-form Deniz Undav entered the game after an hour, with Havertz making way, yet Germany continued to wilt, with Angulo pinching the ball off Joshua Kimmich and flying forward to inject that final momentum. John Yeboah then sprinted clear down the right and his lofted cut-back allowed Enner Valencia to control and hammer the ball towards the corner, with Neuer forced to punch clear with two fists.

Neuer and Tah then combined to flirt with calamity. Kevin Rodriguez threw himself in front of them and took the ball, cutting back to Caicedo, whose cross found a sprawling Plata. But he failed to guide the ball on target with the goal at his mercy. A fortunate escape for Germany, but it would not last.

Rodriguez’s flick-on at a corner was redirected towards Neuer and Plata was alert, the golden touch sending the ball into the roof of the net and thousands of Ecuadorians into a crazed frenzy.

With a number of defensive rocks, the foundation to their 19-game unbeaten streak before that 90th-minute goal against Ivory Coast, try stopping this team now. This enthralling victory could just reconfirm their status as dark horses.