Ecuador beat Germany 2–1, president declares public holiday

Ecuador 2–1 Germany: a public holiday and the knockouts

Ecuador beat Germany 2–1 in the final group match and the country erupted. President Daniel Noboa declared Friday a national public holiday (1). Nilson Angulo, Gonzalo Plata, and Kevin Rodríguez all started as La Tri took the game to Germany (8). The result sends Ecuador through to the knockout stage.

Nagelsmann: 'Ecuador wanted it more? That's nonsense'

Julian Nagelsmann pushed back hard after the match. Asked whether Ecuador showed more desire, he called it nonsense (9). But his own player Deniz Undav disagreed publicly: 'I had the feeling they wanted it more than us' (Reddit). German media were ruthless, with one outlet handing out three 5-out-of-6 player ratings (3). Nagelsmann later admitted there were several weak points in the squad (2) (9).

Musiala torn apart by German pundits

Jamal Musiala took the heaviest fire. Commentator Marcel Reif said Musiala 'played children's football' against Ecuador and singled out Germany's inability to match Ecuador's physical dueling style (6). Jürgen Klopp joined the criticism, questioning the team's physicality (6). The Bayern forward will carry that into the knockout round.

Sané scores early, Rüdiger makes first World Cup start

Leroy Sané put Germany ahead in the 2nd minute, but it unraveled (8). Antonio Rüdiger made his first start of the tournament alongside Nico Schlotterbeck, with David Raum and Nathaniel Brown also in the backline and Manuel Neuer in goal (8). After the match Rüdiger brushed off questions about José Mourinho's arrival at Real Madrid: 'Let's think about the World Cup and then I'm going to be with my dad' (4).

Fan reactions

Ecuadorian fans are living the dream. The Reddit match thread piled on Nagelsmann after his post-match interview clashed with Undav's honest admission that Ecuador simply wanted it more. Others celebrated the group-stage standings graphic confirming Ecuador are through on third-place tiebreakers alongside Sweden. The mood is pure euphoria, and a public holiday sealed it.