Ecuador 2-1 Germany: La Tri's attack awakens as Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata fire in stunning comeback

Ecuador could not hit a barn door before facing Germany at MetLife Stadium, but the Tri scored twice to secure a 2-1 victory.

After taking 12 shots in their tournament-opening defeat against Ivory Coast and attempting a staggering 27 in the goalless draw with Curacao, it took a stunning Nilson Angulo strike to end the South American outfit's drought at the 2026 World Cup.

The job was far from done, as that curled effort only cancelled out Leroy Sane's second-minute opener, and Sebastian Beccacece's men found a winner through Gonzalo Plata.

A nervy final 12 minutes, plus stoppage time that seemed to last an eternity, were navigated, leaving Ecuador to finish Group E on a high after their previous goalscoring frustration.

Ecuador 2-1 Germany: What just happened?

For a side that had not scored in 180 minutes of football against Ivory Coast and Curacao — excluding stoppage time — heads might have dropped when Sane put Germany ahead in controversial circumstances.  

Not this team, though, as they kept pressing and believing against opponents who came into Thursday's match without a clean sheet in eight World Cup games.  

That soon became nine after Ecuador's ninth-minute leveller, and their 78th-minute winner inflicted the European heavyweights' ninth group-stage defeat in World Cup history.  

Gonzalo Plata's 78th-minute strike ended a seven-match run without Ecuador scoring twice in a competitive fixture, their last such outing being March 2025's 2-1 victory over Venezuela in World Cup qualifying.

Ecuador 2-1 Germany: The big talking point

Had Ecuador lost on Thursday, the focus would undoubtedly have been on referee Mary Victoria Penso's decision not to rule out Sane's second-minute strike after what appeared to be a foul by Aleksander Pavlovic.

However, after the way events unfolded, the real story was Ecuador finding two goals with no involvement from their talismanic captain Enner Valencia.

The team's overreliance on their veteran forward was discussed extensively before facing Germany, and the need for other players to step up was highlighted before Thursday's decisive meeting in New York. When it mattered, Beccacece's men took responsibility.

Ecuador 2-1 Germany: The bigger picture

Heading into the knockout round, it must now be asked whether the Tri can operate without their talisman Valencia being burdened with match-winning responsibility.  

It was striking that Becacece withdrew the 36-year-old after 64 minutes as they chased a winning goal, earlier than he was taken off in the opening fixture against the Elephants when he departed on 77 minutes.  

Given the need for other players to be decisive, a team that went into their meeting with Germany without another player besides 49-goal Valencia to have reached double figures for the national side will hope that events in New York inspire others to come up trumps as the competition progresses.  

Ecuador's defensive strength was already known before the tournament, and now there are green shoots suggesting they may have found solutions at the other end of the pitch.