World Cup opponents cannot find a winner
Ecuador makes a mistake: Germany is the group winner
Updated June 21, 2026 – 4:03 amReading time: 2 minutes
Player is loading
Ecuador wanted to finally get their first victory at this year’s World Cup. Instead, the tournament debutant has a good day. One player stands out.
The Ecuadorian national team has in their second game the World Cup made a mistake and Germany was declared group winner. Against tournament newcomer Curaçao, “La Tri” shot at goal 29 times, but not a single attempt was successful. The two German opponents in Group E drew 0-0. The match winner in front of 68,598 fans was Curaçao’s outstanding goalkeeper Eloy Room, who thwarted several of the South Americans’ chances.
In the video | This goal ensures Germany progress
Player is loading
The national coach’s team Julian Nagelsmann had previously thanks to two goals from Joker Deniz Undav won 2-1 against Ivory Coast and celebrated their second victory in this World Cup. At the start there was a confident 7:1 against Curaçao. Ecuador was unfortunate against Ivory Coast and lost 1-0 in the last minute.
That’s how the game went
Curaçao coach Dick Advocaat had announced an improvement for his team after the 1:7. “Ecuador has a better team than Curaçao. But that doesn’t mean they will have it easy,” said the oldest coach at 78 WM said. “We have to make sure we keep the game open for as long as possible.”
And the smallest country that has ever qualified for a World Cup did this brilliantly. Advocaat had strengthened his team’s defense somewhat and used a 5-3-2 system, which gave the Caribbean kickers significantly more stability. As expected, Ecuador had more of the game and had good chances thanks to veteran Enner Valencia (3rd minute), Pedro Vite (14th) and former Bundesliga professional John Yeboah (42nd). Overall, the South Americans didn’t cope well with being clear favorites.
Coach Sebastián Beccacece had warned against underestimating small Curaçao. However, the second place in the South American qualification visibly had difficulties with the pressure after the unfortunate 0-1 defeat at the start against Ivory Coast.
