Ecuador win narrows Korea's path to round of 32

Ecuador beat Germany 2-1 on Thursday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in their Group E finale at the FIFA World Cup 2026, dealing a blow to Korea's hopes of advancing to the round of 32.

Ecuador, which finished the group stage with one win, one draw and one loss, claimed third place in the group with four points. Korea, sitting on three points with a goal difference of -1, saw its odds of advancing drop as a result.

Football analytics firm Opta revised Korea's probability of reaching the round of 32 down from 87.6 percent to 73.3 percent. Korea must now finish ahead of at least three more teams among the eight remaining group-stage matches.

Germany took the lead just two minutes in, when Leroy Sané received a pass from Florian Wirtz and struck low into the bottom-left corner with his left foot. Ecuador leveled seven minutes later: Pedro Vite intercepted a ball from Felix Nmecha and played it to Nilson Angulo, who finished from outside the penalty area.

The deadlock was broken in the 77th minute when Gonzalo Plata converted in front of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, after Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball across from a corner kick. Germany, which had already secured top spot in the group after two matches, fielded most of their first-choice lineup and pressed until the final whistle, but could not find an equalizer.

In the other Group E match, Ivory Coast defeated Curacao 2-0, with Nicolas Pépé scoring twice. Ivory Coast finished level with Germany on two wins and one loss but advanced in second place on the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Ivory Coast opened the scoring in the seventh minute, capitalizing on a defensive error by Curacao. Yan Diomandé recovered the ball and fed Pépé for the opener. Pépé added his second in the 64th minute, finishing one-on-one after a precise through ball from Ibrahim Sangaré.

BY KIM HYO-KYOUNG [[email protected]]