▲ Ecuador players celebrate after their comeback victory against Germany
The South Korean national football team, which fell to third place in Group A, has slipped further down in the competition for a spot in the Round of 32.
This comes as Ecuador pulled off a thrilling, unexpected comeback victory against the "German Tank" to finish third in Group E with a better record than South Korea.
Ecuador defeated Germany 2-1 in their final Group E match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, held at the New York/New Jersey Stadium on June 26 (KST).
With this result, Ecuador finished the group stage with one win, one draw, and one loss, accumulating 4 points (goal difference of 0) to take third place in Group E.
As of today, Ecuador has moved to the top spot among the third-place teams across the 12 groups.
In contrast, South Korea, which finished Group A with one win and two losses (2 goals scored, 3 conceded) for 3 points (goal difference of -1), has dropped to 5th place in the race for the Round of 32—which is reserved for the top 8 third-place teams—leaving them to anxiously watch the results of other groups.
Germany and Ecuador traded goals early in the first half.
Just two minutes into the match, Leroy Sane received a pass from Florian Wirtz and fired a clinical left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net to give Germany an early lead.
However, Ecuador leveled the score seven minutes later.
Pedro Vite intercepted a ball from Felix Nmecha and connected with Nilson Angulo, who scored the equalizer with a precise shot from outside the penalty area.
The tense flow of the match shifted in favor of Ecuador in the 32nd minute of the second half.
Following a corner kick, Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball toward the goal, where Gonzalo Plata nudged it past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to complete the comeback.
In the same group's match held simultaneously at the Philadelphia Stadium, Ivory Coast defeated Curacao 2-0.
Ivory Coast finished with two wins and one loss (6 points, goal difference +2). Although they were tied on points with Germany (goal difference +6), they advanced to the Round of 32 as the group runner-up due to the head-to-head tiebreaker rule.
Germany, which had already secured first place in Group E before today's match, is one of the potential opponents South Korea could face in the Round of 32 if they qualify.
Curacao, making its first-ever World Cup appearance, had previously pulled off an upset by holding Ecuador to a 0-0 draw, thanks to a brilliant performance by goalkeeper Eloy Room, who saved 15 of 28 shots. However, they finished the tournament in 4th place.
Ivory Coast sealed their victory with a brace from Nicolas Pepe.
In the 7th minute, after the Curacao defense failed to clear the ball properly, Jean Diomande intercepted it and passed to the center from near the goal line, where Pepe easily finished to score the opener.
Then, in the 19th minute of the second half, Pepe received a precise through ball from Ibrahim Sangare and struck the top left corner of the net in a one-on-one situation against goalkeeper Room to complete his multi-goal performance.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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