Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterSubscribe to our newsletterGermany are one of a handful of national teams without an acceptable bar for failure. It simply doesn't exist for a country with four World Cup stars above their team badge.They win it or they don't, and for Germany that means returning to New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 19, a little over three weeks after they ended the group stage there with a 2-1 loss against Ecuador.Julian Nagelsmann could justifiably point to the fact that his team had already tied up first place in Group E. The last matches left Germany and Ivory Coast both on six points but Die Mannschaft had the head-to-head advantage and their goal difference was vastly superior in any case.Germany have been emphatic and off-colour in the space of three World Cup group gamesYet the progression of Germany's results and the accompanying performances might just have the head coach quietly taking a microscopic look at some of the details.Thrashing Curacao and squeaking past Ivory Coast harvested six points; textbook tournament football. Losing the next game might not matter at all. It certainly doesn't change anything tangible. The concern, if there is one, is that Germany have played less assuredly with each game. You may like Why the World Cups head-to-head tiebreaker is such a big problem Germany vs Curacao prediction, as the four-time World Cup winners take on a tournament debutant How to watch Ecuador vs Germany for FREE Germany's next opponents can look at how their group played out and quite fairly draw the conclusion that the post-hydration break battering of Curacao was imposing but misleading.It would be uncharitable to say Germany were fortunate to beat Ivory Coast but it would also be true to an extent. Failing to win wouldn't have been any more warranted a result but it nearly happened regardless.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Losing to Ecuador was deserved and that's a worry. Germany took an early lead that might have been disallowed on another day, coughed it up almost immediately, and then went on to lose. If robustness is a trait of World Cup winners in waiting, Germany's first game at MetLife wasn't a good omen.Germany have that troublesome combination of weaknesses at either end of the pitch.Manuel Neuer has been a phenomenal goalkeeper. He was a pioneer and he won it all. For a time, he was the best in the world. The goals Germany conceded against Ecuador demonstrated first a physical decline and then a lapse of mental sharpness in a key moment. What to read next World Cup day four highlights: Underestimate Germany at your peril, dark horse emerges, late drama and Graham Potter's redemption story Germany squad World Cup 2026: The team to face Curacao How to watch Germany vs Curacao for FREE The Ecuador game was evidently one of fine margins and the difference between a former world-leading goalkeeper and a currently elite one is, at this level, worth three points.Ivory Coast and Ecuador both conceded half as many goals as Germany's four in the group but there's also something to prove in the attacking third when the Germans return to action in the round of 32 in Boston.Four players in Germany's squad were listed as forwards and each one comes with a 'but'.Kai Havertz and Deniz Undav have both hit the net more than once at the World Cup but Havertz acknowledges that he does much of his work without the ball and Undav, prolific in the last couple of seasons, has never played in an international tournament before.There are goals elsewhere in the Germany team. Felix Nmecha's off the mark. Leroy Sane is too. Jamal Musiala has one. Take out the Curacao anomaly a mistake for real analysts but perhaps illuminating for the rest of us and the absence of a classic, prolific German frontman starts to look like a potential issue in the bearpit that is knock-out football.Here's another one of those 'buts'... but this is Germany and the Ecuador match, for all intents and purposes a dead rubber for Nagelsmann's side, was just as much an outlier as Curacao.There's a reason few fans are willing to write off Germany at a World Cup. They've proven time and again that this is their playground, that they have the mentality when it counts in a way most nations can only envy.TOPICSGermanyIvory CoastEcuadorCuraaoWorld CupWorld Cup 2026Chris NeeChris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Coventry Sphinx.
