When referee Mary Victoria Penso blew the final whistle in New Jersey, Ecuador’s head coach Sebastian Beccacece did not rush onto the pitch. Instead, he clambered over the stadium barriers to find his wife in the crowd. He kissed her – the partner of 21 years – in a chaotic, instinctive celebration that turned him into a World Cup cult hero.
Beccacece had good reason to be emotional. Before the match, he had said he expected to step down if his side failed to reach the knockout stages. “If things don’t work, I will have to leave a place I love very much but I know it’s all about results,” he told Wednesday’s pre-match news conference. There had been reports of a verbal confrontation between members of his family and supporters after a goalless draw against Curacao.
“Ecuador boss Sebastian Beccacece climbed into the crowd after Gonzalo Plata's winner sealed a 2-1 victory over Germany.”
For large parts of the game, it looked as though Ecuador and their manager were heading for the exit. Germany’s Leroy Sane opened the scoring after just two minutes – a goal Ecuador’s players felt should have been ruled out for a foul. But Beccacece’s side refused to fold. Nilson Angulo equalised, and then, 13 minutes from time, Gonzalo Plata became his country’s hero. He had missed an open goal minutes earlier, but when he found the net, bedlam erupted inside the stadium.
“If Ecuador hadn’t won this game, he wouldn’t have been in the job,” former England captain Alan Shearer told BBC One. “He was looking for a reaction from his players and boy has he got one. Look at his reaction to family members, fans and friends – he deserves it. Him and his players put a shift in – they gambled, they fought, they scrapped and they’ve come out on top.”
Beccacece himself was quick to deflect the praise. “It is not about what it means to me; this is for the people,” he said. “The players have given them this qualification. Let them celebrate and enjoy it.”
Match-winner Plata added: “We were really looking forward to this before the World Cup began. It feels different today because we struggled so much in the first two matches. It’s better this way; it’s a learning experience for us and now we’ll go into the next round even more hungry for glory.”
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, meanwhile, acknowledged his side’s failings. “We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure instead of suddenly switching positions too much,” he said. “There was too much freestyle. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions, and if on top of that we are giving the ball away too often, at some point it becomes difficult.”
The victory means Ecuador have qualified for the knockout stages for only the second time in their history, rising to the top of the third‑place teams table. For Beccacece, who took charge in August 2024 after the sacking of Felix Sanchez, it secures more time at the helm. But he knows the reprieve is fragile. As he put it: “We have the possibility of moving forward.” For now, though, he can celebrate with his family.