Ecuador face Germany with the World Cup on the line

Germany on Thursday, everything on the line

Ecuador play Germany on Thursday at MetLife Stadium, 22:00 local time (1) (3). This is it. The 0–0 draw against Curaçao on Saturday left your team on a single point, and only a win against Germany keeps qualification alive (4) (6). The pressure on Sebastian Beccacece is enormous, former national team figures have already called for his resignation after the Curaçao result. No goals in that match despite heavy pressure. Now you face Germany with the knockout stage on the line.

Germany missing two defenders

Nathaniel Brown sat out Germany's final training session Wednesday with adductor problems and will miss the Ecuador match (1) (2). Nico Schlotterbeck is already out of the tournament entirely with an ankle injury (4). That is two German defenders unavailable. Your attack needs to find the cutting edge it lacked against Curaçao, the door is open.

Brenet in tears after the Curaçao stalemate

Joshua Brenet was in tears after Saturday's 0–0 draw. "First that trouble at FC Twente, very difficult," the Curaçao defender said afterwards (7). The emotion on the other side tells you what that result meant: Curaçao celebrated it like a victory, and Ecuador were left with almost no margin for error.