Group E: Ecuador stuns Germany, Ivory Coast advance with 2-0 over Curacao

Ecuador through to round of 32 with stunning comeback win over Germany A 77th-minute goal from Gonzalo Plata gave Ecuador a 2-1 victory over Germany in East Rutherford, N.J., on Thursday to help the side advance to the round of 32 in dramatic fashion. Germany (2-1-0, 6 points) had clinched Group E entering the final match and were seeking to keep momentum for their round of 32 match while Ecuador’s path to advancement was simple: win or go home. Plata provided the winner to enable Ecuador (1-1-1, 4 points) to finish third in the group behind Ivory Coast (2-1-0, 6 points), a 2-0 winner over Curacao on Thursday to tie Germany in points. The Germans won the head-to-head tiebreaker. Leroy Sane’s controversial goal put Germany ahead in the second minute, but Ecuador scored for the first time in this World Cup in the ninth minute when Nilson Angulo equalized. Then it became desperation late for Ecuador until Kevin Rodriguez, who entered in the 64th minute, flicked an incoming corner kick in front of the net, where Plata finished with a left-footed toe poke. After 20 stressful minutes of defending, Ecuador were through to the knockout stage for the first time since 2006. Germany don’t know which third-place team they will face in their round of 32 match June 29 at Foxborough, Mass., while Ecuador don’t know where, which day or which group winner they will play in their round of 32 match. The early exchange of goals was a case of revenge, or even karma. Sane scored from the center of the box off an assist by Florian Wirtz, who got the ball after Aleksandar Pavlovic flicked him a pass and in the process kicked Ecuador’s Pedro Vite in the face with a high boot. Ecuador pleaded for a foul but none was called on the field by American referee Tori Penso and VAR did not overturn the decision. Nilson tied it with a strike outside the box with a bending ball which went through the legs of Pavlovic after Vite created a turnover to earn an assist. Ecuador’s first goal of the tournament came on their 40th shot. Moments into the second half, Germany had a penalty overturned. The initial call was Kai Havertz being tackled by Joel Ordonez but after a review, Penso determined Sane tripped Vite in the German build-up. Just past the hour mark, Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer punched a line drive on net from Enner Valencia to keep the match even until Plata’s late heroics. Ivory Coast advance as Pepe scores twice to send Curacao home Nicolas Pepe’s double sealed Ivory Coast’s first trip to the World Cup elimination rounds with a 2-0 victory over Curacao on Thursday to finish second in Group E. For manager Emerse Fae, the feat ends a wait of 20 years since he was an unused substitute for the first Ivory Coast side to reach the World Cup. “My message would be enjoy this historic qualification, celebrate it,” Fae said of his wishes for his countrymen, through an interpreter. “And once we are done celebrating, please continue sending us positive vibes and praying for us and encouraging us so we can go as far as possible in this tournament.” Curacao became the eighth team eliminated from the tournament, a fate that arrived later than many anticipated after the Caribbean country became the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup finals. Ivory Coast were third in their group in their three previous World Cup appearances from 2006 to 2014 and will face the second-place team in Group I, France or Norway, on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas. After failing to score in five World Cup qualifying appearances and not being included in manager Emerse Fae’s recent Africa Cup of Nations squad, Pepe was not an obvious candidate to play hero. But he took both goals exceptionally well for his first tallies in a competitive international fixture since October 2024. Fae said he believes the remarks that led to his temporary exclusion are firmly in the past. “I think this episode with Nico is behind us,” Fae said. “We were always clear with him. We told him why we were not picking him at the time. We told him what we were expecting from him. And so today we’re very happy to have the player we know and love and we’ve always wanted to have.” CURACAO ERROR The Villarreal man’s first came through the latest in a continuous string of threatening moves from 19-year-old Yan Diomande, who alertly pounced on a Curacao error trying to play out of the back and spotted Pepe charging to the near post. Diomande laid the ball back from the byline, and Pepe hammered a low first-time finish through goalkeeper Eloy Room from close range. With plenty of sun and temperatures hovering in the mid-80s degrees Fahrenheit, the game appeared to be slowing before Pepe finished off an incisive second for the Africans. Ibrahim Sangare spotted Pepe’s run into the box with a perfect, line-splitting through ball and Pepe curled his finish from 10 metres inside the left post. Although it was a deserved Ivorian victory, Curacao had their moments in possibly their last match managed by 78-year-old Dutchman Dick Advocaat, who was taking charge of his third World Cup side. “We had the opportunities,” Advocaat said through an interpreter. “But they have two forwards that are worth 150 million (euros). That says something about the difference in quality. They have a greater threat, despite the fact that during the first half, we were really playing along (with them).”