Ecuador needed just one more goal Thursday to advance to the knockout stage.
Their Group E finale against Germany was a must-win in order to keep their dreams alive — and some help from Ivory Coast would send them through as a top-3 finish in the group.
Ivory Coast did their part, getting a 2-0 victory over Curacao to aid the Ecuadorians.
And The CONMEBOL side finished the job, getting a Gonzalo Plata toe-poke volley in the box in the 77th minute that eventually gave Ecuador a 2-1 victory at the Meadowlands.
It secured Ecuador's spot in the knockout round as one of eight third-place group stage finishers to move on.
And the whistle garnered a huge eruption heard inside the arena. Fans waved flags and jumped for joy, relishing in the joy of defeating one of Europe's powerhouse soccer federations.
The joy stretched inside a tense press room that quickly turned into celebration as Ecuador's media contingent cheered on — even Facetiming and providing live video reports to give others a sense of what it was like to experience such a victory.
Plata's goal was assisted by substitute Kevin Rodriguez , who flicked teammate's Moises Caicedo 's corner kick right before the winning goal.
The goal fed hungry Ecuadorian supporters that flooded the stadium in seas of yellow, clamoring for a goal while monitoring the finish between Ivory Coast and Curacao.
To their favor, Curacao never led in their match, which essentially secured one leg of the two-pronged solution.
They just needed one more goal. Plata provided it, and now his team moves on after the squad suffered a group stage exit in Qatar to end the last World Cup.
To start, Germany looked to kickoff Thursday's Group E finale business as usual.
They entered the match undefeated in 2026 World Cup play, and looked to stay that way with Leroy Sane 's goal in the second minute.
It was a blow to the raucous Ecuadorian crowd in attendance at the Meadowlands. Passionate chants and rendition of the national anthem quickly quieted down — then the players struck back.
A well-timed Ecuadorian press led to a counter attack ending with Nilson Angulo 's goal in the 9th minute, prompting a sea of yellow shirts in the arena to go wild as the match evened 1-1.
The equalizing goal erased Sane's early sting, which didn't come without controversy.
The Ecuadorian side felt the goal should've been disallowed due to German midfielder Aleksander Pavlovic's high boot that struck a player in the head. A VAR check, however, confirmed no foul play.
Ironically, Pavlovic was booked for a yellow card moments before halftime for a foul on Enner Valencia . He was later subbed off at halftime for Angelo Stiller .
German coach Julian Nagelsmann tooked Pavlovic off to avoid another yellow, which would've disqualified the midfielder for next Monday's Round of 32 knockout stage match.
Thursday's match was meaningless for Germany, who already clinched the top spot in Group E with a comeback victory against Ivory Coast last Saturday.
With the match having no bearing on Germany's advancement, it would've been expected for Julian Nagelsmann to rest players prior to next Monday's knockout stage match.
That didn't happen.
The usual starting 11 was sent out except for centerback Nico Schlotterbeck , who suffered a torn ligament in his left ankle in the first half of the win against Ivory Coast.
But at the end, they fell to the Ecuadorians, who went into defense mode in the final minutes following Plata's goal.
____
