Overview
After the overwhelming 7-1 victory over Curacao in the opening match, the German team continued to show their bravery when they came back to defeat Ivory Coast 2-1 to soon win a ticket to the 1/16 round of the 2026 World Cup.
Deniz Undav became the hero of Germany when he came on as a substitute and scored both goals, including the decisive goal in the 90+4 minute. The Stuttgart striker has now directly contributed to 5 goals (3 goals, 2 assists) after only 2 matches. He equals the record of legend Roger Milla (Cameroon) for the most goals scored by a substitute player in a World Cup since 1966.
Although not yet at their peak form, coach Julian Nagelsmann's team is still the team with the most goals in the tournament with 9 goals. The victory over Ivory Coast also helped Germany increase their winning streak in all competitions to 11, lasting since September last year.
If they beat Ecuador, they will equal the record of 12 consecutive wins, set when they were West Germany in the period from May 1979 to June 1980. At the same time, Germany will also close the World Cup group stage with a perfect record for the first time since the home tournament in 2006.
However, the defense is still something Nagelsmann cannot rest assured about. Germany has conceded in 5 of the last 6 matches and has not kept a clean sheet in 8 consecutive matches at the World Cup, since the 1-0 victory over Argentina in the 2014 final.
In the opposite direction, Ecuador is facing the risk of stopping right from the group stage for the fourth time in five World Cup appearances. The South American representative has only won 1 point after two Group E matches, after a 0-1 defeat to Ivory Coast and a goalless draw with Curacao.
Coach Sebastian Beccacece's team dribbled the ball against the goal frame three times before conceding a goal in the 90th minute in the match against Ivory Coast. In the match against Curacao, they continued to disappoint when they could not score even though they launched 27 shots. Among them, 15 shots were on target but were all excellently saved by goalkeeper Eloy Room.
Ecuador is no stranger to draws. They drew 5/8 friendly matches before the World Cup and had up to 8 draws in 18 rounds in the South American regional qualifiers. Since July 2024, La Tri has gone through 9 0-0 draws.
Currently ranked third in Group E and only slightly ahead of Curacao in goal difference, Ecuador is forced to defeat Germany if they want to win a ticket to the 1/16 round. A draw will not be enough for them to compete for a ticket to the next round for the third-placed teams with the best results.
History is also not on Ecuador's side. They have lost all two previous encounters with Germany with a total score of 2-7 and are facing the risk of becoming the second South American team, after Bolivia (1930 and 1950), to end a World Cup without scoring a single goal.
Expected lineup:
Galindez, Ordonez, Pacho, Hincapie, Yeboah, Franco, Caicedo, Vite, Estupinan, Plata, Valencia.
Baumann, Anton, Tah, Rudiger, Raum, Goretzka, Stiller, Leweling, Amiri, Beier, Undav.
The match between Ecuador and Germany takes place at 3:00 AM on June 26 (Vietnam time).
