Preview: Ecuador vs Germany - prediction, team news, lineups

Germany will endeavour to preserve their perfect start to the 2026 World Cup when they face winless Ecuador in their third and final Group E fixture at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Thursday.

While Die Mannschaft are guaranteed to finish top of the group, La Tricolor face an uphill battle to keep their World Cup dreams alive after a disappointing start in North America.

Match preview

After thrashing Curacao 7-1 in their opening World Cup match, Germany came from a goal down with less than 30 minutes remaining to seal a 2-1 comeback victory over Ivory Coast last weekend, booking their place in the knockout stages with a game to spare.

Deniz Undav stepped up as the hero, coming off the bench to score twice, including a dramatic 94th-minute winner. The Stuttgart forward has now directly contributed to five goals (three goals, two assists) in just two matches, equalling Cameroon legend Roger Milla’s iconic 1990 campaign for the most goal involvements by a substitute at a single World Cup since records began in 1966.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side have not performed at their fluid best thus far, but they are already the tournament’s top scorers with nine goals. Furthermore, the gritty victory over Ivory Coast extended Die Mannschaft's impressive winning run across all competitions to 11 matches, dating back to September last year.

Germany will equal their longest-ever winning streak of 12 games (as West Germany between May 1979 and June 1980) if they prevail against Ecuador, while a victory would also see them complete a perfect World Cup group-stage campaign for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2006.

Ranked as seventh favourites to win outright in our World Cup 2026 betting guide, Germany will be keen to make defensive improvements having conceded in five of their last six matches, while they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight World Cup games since beating Argentina in the 2014 final (1-0).

Ecuador are competing at their fifth World Cup and find themselves in serious danger of suffering a group-stage exit for the fourth time, having picked up just one point from their opening two matches in Group E, following frustrating outings against Ivory Coast and Curacao.

Sebastian Beccacece's side hit the woodwork three times before conceding a heartbreaking 90th-minute goal in a narrow 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast on matchday one. Things went from bad to worse last Sunday as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Curacao, failing to convert any of their 27 shots on goal – 15 of which were saved by goalkeeper Eloy Room.

Ecuador are certainly no strangers to stalemates, as they drew five of their eight friendlies prior to the World Cup and played out eight draws during their 18-game CONMEBOL qualification campaign. In fact, since July 2024, La Tri have remarkably recorded nine separate matches ending in a 0-0 scoreline.

Ranked 30th in the world by FIFA, Ecuador currently occupy third place in Group E, sitting above Curacao on goal difference, and they realistically need to beat Germany if they wish to qualify for the last 32. While a draw would move them onto two points, that tally is highly unlikely to be enough to see them progress as one of the eight best third-placed teams.

Ecuador have lost their previous two meetings with Germany by an aggregate score of 7-2, while they head into Thursday’s contest seeking to avoid becoming just the second South American nation, after Bolivia in 1930 and 1950, to endure a goalless World Cup campaign.

Ecuador World Cup form:

Ecuador form (all competitions):

Germany World Cup form:

Germany form (all competitions):

Team News

Germany centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck has been ruled out for the rest of the World Cup with an ankle injury sustained against Ivory Coast. Antonio Rudiger, Waldemar Anton and Malick Thiaw are all contenders to replace him in the first XI.

It is anticipated that Nagelsmann will freshen up his starting lineup, with goalkeeper Oliver Baumann pushing to start along with left-back David Raum and midfield trio Leon Goretzka, Angelo Stillar and Nadiem Amiri.

Nagelsmann has refused to rule out rewarding in-form Undav with a start up front ahead of Kai Havertz, while Jamie Leweling and Maximilian Beier could provide support in attack from wide areas, replacing Leroy Sane and Florian Wirtz.

As for Ecuador, they have no fitness or injury concerns to report, and Beccacece is not expected to make drastic changes to his lineup despite overseeing a winless start to the World Cup.

After began as a centre-back in the draw with Curacao, Alan Franco could be pushed further forward into a familiar centre-midfield role against Germany to play alongside Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo and Pedro Vite. Jordy Alcivar is therefore in danger of dropping out of the first XI.

At the age of 36, Enner Valencia is Ecuador’s all-time record goalscorer and is just one goal away from hitting the 50-goal mark for his country. The former West Ham striker could be joined in attack by either Gonzalo Plata or Jordy Caicedo, most likely the former.

Ecuador possible starting lineup:

Galindez; Ordonez, Pacho, Hincapie; Yeboah, Franco, Caicedo, Vite, Estupinan; Plata, Valencia

Germany possible starting lineup:

Baumann; Anton, Tah, Rudiger, Raum; Goretzka, Stiller; Leweling, Amiri, Beier; Undav

We say: Ecuador 0-2 Germany

Ecuador have proved to be a tough nut to crack defensively, but their toothless attack inspires little confidence ahead of a daunting showdown against the most prolific side - at the time of writing - at this summer's tournament.

Even if Nagelsmann heavily rotates his lineup, Die Mannschaft should still boast more than enough quality and depth to comfortably bypass La Tricolor and maintain their flawless record in Group E.

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