Ecuador rally past Germany to reach World Cup knockouts as Ivory Coast eliminate Curaçao

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (AP): Gonzalo Plata slid the ball beyond Manuel Neuer in the 77th minute yesterday, sending Ecuador into the World Cup knockout round with a comeback 2-1 victory over Germany.

Germany, who had already secured top spot in Group E with wins in their opening two fixtures, took an early lead through Leroy Sané’s goal in the second minute. Nilson Angulo drew Ecuador level in the ninth minute with the side’s first goal of the tournament.

Plata, who had been struck in the head when Germany scored their opener, delivered the decisive moment after Pedro Vite’s corner was flicked on by Kevin Rodríguez. Neuer, the 40-year-old Germany keeper who returned from international retirement for the World Cup, moved to collect the ball but Plata lifted his left foot and poked it home with his toe.

Ecuador head coach Sebastián Beccacece sprinted toward the stands in celebration.

Ecuador ended the group in third place on four points and moved beyond the group stage for only the second time, the previous occasion being a round-of-16 appearance in 2006.

Germany’s run of 11 straight wins came to an end, leaving them one victory short of the record streak set in 1979–80. The four-time champions will face their round-of-32 tie on Monday at Foxborough, Massachusetts, most likely against Paraguay, Australia or Sweden.

A crowd of 80,663 at MetLife Stadium, largely dressed in Ecuador’s yellow, pushed total attendance for the expanded tournament to a record 3,587,539 through 56 matches — one more than the 52 games held at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Sané gave Germany the lead roughly one minute and 50 seconds into the match with his 18th international goal. Aleksandar Pavlović chested the ball down and kicked Vite after Nathaniel Brown’s throw-in, but American referee Tori Penso allowed play to continue. Pavlović found Florian Wirtz, who delivered a cross to Sané just inside the penalty area.

Angulo struck shortly afterward after Felix Nmecha gave away possession in midfield to Vite. Vite played the ball to Angulo, who drove toward goal and placed his shot beyond Neuer at the far post from just outside the area.

Penso initially pointed to the spot less than 30 seconds into the second half when Joel Ordóñez brought down Kai Havertz, but a video review determined Sané had fouled Vite first.

In the other Group E fixture, Ivory Coast advanced with goals from Nicolas Pépé in each half in a 2-0 win over Curaçao, reaching the World Cup knockout round for the first time in the West African nation’s history. Les Éléphants have made it out of the group stage for the first time across four World Cup appearances.

Ivory Coast defeated Ecuador 1-0 in their tournament opener — at the same Philadelphia stadium as yesterday’s match — and fell to Germany in their second group game.

Ivory Coast will play on June 30 against either France or Norway, whichever side finishes second in Group I.

Curaçao required a win but fell short of becoming the smallest nation ever to reach the knockout stages.

Teams P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Germany 3 2 0 1 10 4 6 6
Côte d'Ivoire 3 2 0 1 3 2 1 6
Ecuador 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
Curaçao 3 0 1 2 1 9 -8 1