Germany needed less than two minutes to make this look routine. Ecuador spent the rest of the night proving it wasn’t.
Ecuador came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 at MetLife Stadium, turning an early Leroy Sané goal into one of its sharpest results of the tournament. Sané finished Florian Wirtz’s pass in the second minute, but Ecuador answered quickly through Nilson Angulo and won it in the 77th minute when Gonzalo Plata finished from close range after Kevin Rodríguez’s headed pass from a corner.
Germany still had more of the ball. It finished with 61.1 percent possession, 592 passes and 11 shots. That usually points toward control. Here, it mostly showed how well Ecuador managed the game after the equalizer, kept Germany from turning possession into clean chances and waited for the set-piece moment that changed the result.
The result also adds another layer to Germany’s uneven group-stage arc. Its earlier escape against Ivory Coast had already raised questions about how cleanly this team could close matches, even after Deniz Undav’s late Germany winner moved it forward. Against Ecuador, the concern was different: Germany started perfectly, then lost the match anyway.
Ecuador turns the match on its terms
Angulo’s response in the ninth minute prevented match from settling into Germany’s rhythm. Pedro Vite found him outside the box, and Angulo’s right-footed shot beat Germany before the early goal could become the night’s defining image.
From there, Ecuador accepted long stretches without the ball but didn’t collapse into survival mode. Germany put only three of its 11 shots on target. Ecuador put three of seven on target, made the better final-third moments count and got two saves from its goalkeeper on a night when the margin stayed narrow.
The decisive goal came from a corner sequence, and that felt appropriate. Ecuador had spent the match making Germany uncomfortable in moments rather than overwhelming it over time. Rodríguez’s headed pass dropped into the six-yard area, and Plata’s volley gave Ecuador the lead Germany couldn’t claw back.
For Ecuador, this was more than a comeback. It was a performance built on timing, compactness and nerve. For Germany, it was a reminder that early control means little if the match keeps offering the opponent better answers.
