Ecuador advances to World Cup knockout rounds, beats Germany 2-1

Gonzalo Plata poked the ball past Manuel Neuer in the 77th minute, and Ecuador advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup by rallying for a 2-1 win over Germany on Thursday (Source: Photo by AP)

Germany, which clinched first place in Group E with victories in its first two games, went ahead on Leroy Sané's second-minute goal (Source: Photo by AP)

Nilson Angulo scored Ecuador's first goal of the tournament in the ninth minute (Source: Photo by AP)

Plata, who took a kick to the head when Germany scored its early goal, keyed Ecuador's great escape after Pedro Vite's corner kick was nodded on by Kevin Rodríguez (Source: Photo by AP)

Ecuador finished third in the group with four points and advanced past the group stage (Source: Photo by AP)

It was only the second time in five World Cup appearances that Ecuador have reached the knockout rounds. The first was 2006 (Source: Photo by AP)

The three tournaments in between — 2002, 2014, 2022 — all ended in the group stage. This one nearly did too (Source: Photo by AP)

Ecuador held their first win over a UEFA side since 2013 (Source: Photo by AP)

Ecuador's fans, who had been in tears during the tense moments of the match, broke down crying again after their team secured a historic place in the knockout stage (Source: Photo by AP)

FIFA said the crowd of 80,663 at MetLife Stadium for the World Cup’s 56th game boosted attendance to a record 3,587,539 for the tournament (Source: Photo by AP)