Germany vs Ecuador

The final matchday throws up a repeat of one of the 2006 World Cup's group-stage fixtures, and the memory still stings in Quito. In Berlin, a Germany side already through to the knockout rounds fielded a rotated lineup and still swept Ecuador aside 3-0 — Miroslav Klose scoring twice, Lukas Podolski adding a third — to top the group. That Ecuador team had beaten Poland and Costa Rica with swagger but crumbled when exposed to the highest level. Nearly two decades later, the dynamic has shifted.

Ecuador are no longer wide-eyed tourists; they are a CONMEBOL side that earned qualification through substance over style. They also beat Germany 2-1 in a 2013 Florida friendly, their only win in four all-time meetings. Whether Sánchez Bas uses that as psychological fuel or ignores it entirely, it proves Ecuador can hurt big names.

The problem remains profile: Wirtz and Musiala operating between the lines will test Caicedo's capacity for solo midfield rescue missions. If Ecuador concede early, their entire tournament could unravel in the space of twenty minutes. The flip side is that Germany's recent World Cup history includes precisely that kind of collapse — remember South Korea in 2018?

This fixture has upset written into its DNA, even if the bookmakers cannot see it.