What to do with one more World Cup group stage game when you’ve already won the group? The answer is score 2 minutes into the game and don’t look back. Germany did the first part, but then faded as momentum was replaced by a messy loss that exposes this team’s limitations.

There is a way to spin this as a defeat that can sharpen the minds, that can blow away any complacency ahead of the knockouts.Germany captain Joshua Kimmich was certainly bullish in defeat.

“We keep inviting the opponent to attack by turning the ball over, which makes them stronger,” Kimmich said on MagentaTV “Fortunately, this doesn’t change much. But we can’t afford any more losses. That much is clear. We can’t let in one or two goals every game. We have to minimize the number of turnovers, and then we can beat anyone.”

But that’s not how it felt in East Rutherford at the final whistle. It felt like Germany had gone from a team in form, exceeding the expectations of their fans, riding the waves of joy that come with big wins and last-minute wins, to one stopped short in its tracks.

The song that has accompanied this team at the tournament so far has been “The train has no brakes.” On Thursday, not only were the brakes on, but the team appeared to derail.

Another game endured rather than enjoyed

David Raum started in place of the injured Nathaniel Brown (who is expected to return for Germany’s knockout game) and had a game to forget. Antonio Rüdiger replaced the injured Nico Schlotterbeck and was slow to start, before improving. But they were not alone. Felix Nmecha, who has been Germany’s standout at the tournament so far, struggled. Aleksandar Pavlovic played himself out of the second half, having also been booked.

It was also tough on Leroy Sane, who scored Germany’s opener and would have been the story of the day after weeks of strong media criticism. In the end, even his performance fell away in the face of Germany’s collective disappointment.

The result was made worse by the fact Germany’s opening goal shouldn’t have stood — American referee Tori Penso bizarrely decided not to penalize Pavlovic in the buildup after the Bayern player’s boot ended up in the face of an opponent. Add to that the penalty that Germany never got because of a foul by Sane in the buildup, and it was a day where so much that could go wrong did go wrong.

Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz worked hard off the ball, but are struggling to impose themselves on it. Rüdiger’s comments last week calling on Germany’s attacking players feel even more telling after this defeat: “No pressure, but we will need you.” 

Depending on which of Germany’s leaders you listened to, desire was also an issue. Or not.

“The difference today was that the opponent wanted to win more than us,” Kimmich said afterwards. 

“Ecuador wanted it more than us? That’s nonsense,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, in stark contrast.

Disjointed and dismantled

Germany’s need is now greater than ever. Perhaps Deniz Undav will be unleashed from the start. Here in the New York-New Jersey stadium, the crowd again called for the striker, and once again Nagelsmann responded. But this time, despite his best efforts, there were to be no heroics from the Stuttgart man, who had three goals and two assists from two substitute appearances before this.

Advertisement

A raft of changes were made, perhaps most notably Malick Thiaw on for Kimmich at right back as Germany swapped to a back three. As one Germany fan remarked afterwards, it felt like a friendly game.

“Of course, we made substitutions differently than we would have otherwise — perhaps at moments when we absolutely needed another goal. But I can’t say to any player now that he didn’t give it his all. That’s far too simplistic for me,” Nagelsmann told MagentaTV afterwards.

Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plata nipping in to poke the ball into the goal just before it landed in Manuel Neuer’s hands felt like a natural consequence of all that had come before. For Neuer, so far this has been a strange comeback. He had no chance of stopping Nilson Angulo’s thunderbolt and for Plata’s winner, he didn’t see the winger coming. Ecuador ended the game with two goals from just three shots on target.

No stopping the yellow wave

The scenes at full time were not for Germany. They were for Ecuador. A sea of yellow, rippling joy at booking their spot in the knockout rounds with an historic win against the four-time World Cup winners. Tears, children on shoulders, lung-bursting songs down the concourse — Ecuador’s fans knew what they had done and made sure everyone knew about it.

Germany left the field swiftly, briefly waving at their fans, but keen to disappear from the concrete cauldron of New York New Jersey Stadium that exposed their own heaviness. Was recalling Neuer the right decision? Is this group just not as good as it thought it was two weeks ago? Will Paraguay or Australia be a stumbling block? The questions will swirl. In the meantime, Nagelsmann wants time.

Advertisement

“The most important lesson we can take is patience,” said Nagelsmann. “When you start so well, we have to focus more on patience. If we get the lead we have to be more calm in certain situations.”

It won’t be long before we find out how calm Germany and Nagelsmann really are. More importantly, we’ll find out whether something more than just a game was lost here in East Rutherford.

Edited by: Matt Pearson

Former France centre-back Frank Lebouef has snubbed Lionel Messi as he picked his compatriot Kylian Mbappe and England’s Harry Kane to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot.

Messi, 39, is the Golden Boot leader, scoring in each of holders Argentina’s opening three games as they sealed their passage to the knockouts without much fuss. Following a hat-trick in the campaign opener against Algeria, the Inter Miami forward bagged a brace against Austria and came off the bench to score in the win over Jordan.

Meanwhile, Mbappe has scored four times in three matches and is right behind Messi, alongside his compatriot Ousmane Dembele, Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and Norway’s Erling Haaland, with Kane a goal behind the second-placed quartet.

“The increased number of teams changes things,” Lebouef told BOYLE Sports (via Tribal Football). “I don’t want to be overly harsh on nations like Curacao, Haiti, or Cape Verde, but the Golden Boot could easily be decided by someone scoring six or seven goals against those teams.

“In a perfect world, matches would be tight, but realistically, we will see some lopsided scores. For the Golden Boot, the favorites have to be Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. If England and France both go deep in the tournament, I think it will be a contest between the two of them.”

Kane’s England are on the same side of the knockout bracket as Messi’s Argentina, with the duo slated to meet in the semis, while Mbappe’s France cnnot meet either team before the final.

Lionel Messi enjoying a record-breaking campaign at 2026 FIFA World Cup

Lionel Messi is enjoying a historic campaign at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, his sixth appearance at the quadrennial event since his debut at Germany 2006 two decades ago.

With his hat-trick against Algeria, Messi became the oldest hat-trick scorer in competition history and moved level with all-time top scorer Miroslav Klose. The brace against Austria and the goal against Jordan put him three clear of Klose and Kylian Mbappe.

The first player to score in seven consecutive games at the World Cup, Lionel Messi also has the most wins (19) in the competition and most goals outside the box (6) as he seeks to win his maiden FIFA World Cup Golden Boot.