On matchday 15 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, groups D, E and F concluded. The USA and Germany were already confirmed winners of groups D and E, respectively, while Turkey and Tunisia had already been eliminated. Furthermore, some other nations could be sure of progression with draws. Certainly, this had an effect on a matchday that mostly followed the script.
But there was one big surprise and comeback story while a couple of the seemingly dead rubber matches turned out to be thrillers.
The round up
of matchday 15 of the World Cup is down below:
Ivory Coast holds off Curaçao to book place in Round of 32
Curaçao and Ivory Coast went into this match in very differing cirumstances. After having been thrashed 7-1 by Germany in their maiden World Cup match, Curaçao set up shop and, to the delight of their fans, held off Ecuador to grab a shock draw. Meanwhile, Ivory Coast followed up the brilliantly euphoric last minute 1-0 win over Ecuador with a morale sapping last minute 2-1 defeat to Germany.
The roles were still clear, though: Curaçao were the massive underdogs and Ivory Coast headed into this match looking to seal second place in the group and progression to the knockout round with a victory. That is exactly what happened. Two goals from Nicolas Pépé early in both halves- 7th minute, 64th minute- saw the West African side grab victory. Curaçao created more shots but Ivory Coast created the better quality shots and dominated the ball. Once Pépé scored his second goal, the match started to peter out and Ivory Coast held out to qualify for the knockout rounds for the very first time in their history. Congratulations.
Ecuador shocks lackluster Germany to progress against all odds
When Leroy Sané received a pass for Florian Wirtz in the box and opened the scoring to put Germany up 1-0 within two minutes, Ecuador’s hopes of making the knockout rounds seemed slim. They had already received multiple gut punches this tournament, losing late to the Ivory Coast before failing to beat Curaçao what was billed to be an easy victory for every other team in Group E. They had to win their match against Germany to stand a chance of progressing to the Round of 32, but Sané’s goal, along with the indignation of a non-call on a potential high boot by Germany’s Aleksandar Pavlovic in the build up to the goal, threatened to kill those hopes.
But Ecuador roared back. Nilson Angulo, benched in Ecuador’s first two group matches, took advantage of loose play by Germany’s Felix Nmecha and alert pressing by Pedro Vite to rip one on goal, using Pavlovic to block the sight of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and bury the ball into the back of the net.
Both teams struggled to create much as the game carried on. Germany seemed to have won a penalty in the early minutes of the second half after Kai Havertz fell to the ground following contact from Joel Ordóñez, but it was eventually called back by VAR for an earlier foul by Sané. Ecuador controlled the ball, but could create very little.
Things changed after the second half hydration break, though. Ecuador pushes more and more, created pressure and eventually it told. A corner was whipped in and Kevin Rodriguez rose highest to divert the ball towards goal, where Gonzalo Plata got a crucial touch in before Neuer could reach the ball, sending the ball high into the German’s net. Germany could create very little in response and eventually to the 2-1 defeat, snapping their previous 11 match winning run.
Ecuador’s win still left them in third place in the group. But with 4 points and a 0 goal difference, Ecuador suddenly stand a strong chance of qualifying as one of the 8 best teams to reach the Round of 32.
Final group standings: (1) Germany (2) Ivory Coast (3) Ecuador (4) Curaçao
Early surge powers Netherlands to ease past Tunisia
Netherlands, having just won 5-1 against Sweden, ended their group stage by facing off against Tunisia, who lost 5-1 to Sweden. The Dutch were always going to be the very favorites and some believed the scoreline could really ugly. Those predictions looked like they would come true and that it would really become a bloodbath when Netherlands went two goals up within seven minutes. First Tunisia captain and Eintracht Frankfurt player Ellyes Skhiri inadvertently sent a low cross into his own net, before Tijjani Reijnders floated in a free kick that Virgil Van Dijk headed across goal for Brian Brobbey to stab into the back of the net.
Ronald Koeman’s side then took their foot off the gas, though, and particularly ceded control to the last placed team in the group at the start of the second half. Tunisia had already created some half chances in the opening minutes of the half when Hannibal floated a ball into the box for Hazem Mastouri to head the ball home and reduce the arrears to 2-1 in the 54th minute.
But, just when Tunisia started to truly work their way into the match, Netherlands struck back. Reijnders crossed the ball to the near post, where new Tottenham Hotspur signing Paul von Hecke rose to score his team’s third and restore the two goal advantage.
This time, the group leaders were able to see out the lead, finishing the group with seven points while Tunisia slumped to their third loss of three games and will exit the tournament.
Sweden and Japan battle to a stalemate
Sometimes, a game is destined to end as a draw. This was arguably one of them. Both sides entered the match knowing a draw would be enough. Japan would seal 2nd place and Sweden would seal 3rd on four points, likely enough to qualify as one of the best 8 teams. So, despite the fact they knew a win would bring them even more, the game was tepid and careful, neither side willing to overcommit. Add the substitutions of Isak Hiem and, bizarrely, Japan captain Ko Itakura to the mix along with the hydration break, and one gets a very stop start, uninteresting first half.
The second half promised a similar lack of goals, a sentiment punctuated by an utterly brilliant save from Sweden goalkeeper Widdell Zetterström on an offside shot from Daichi Kamada in the 52nd minute.
At this point, it was going to take something very special to open the scoring and that is exactly what happened. A brilliant move involving Sugawara, Ueda and Doan saw Maeda played into space, where he calmly placed the ball into the back of the net. That has to be one of the goal of the tournament contenders thus far.
But, in this even match, Sweden were not going to let the Japanese celebrate long. Anthony Elanga, rewarded with a start after appearing off the bench to score a goal against the Dutch in the last game, cut inside and ripped a shot from outside of the area that perhaps caught Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki off guard.
Suzuki would redeem himself, however, making multiple saves in the dying minutes of the match to preserve the draw for Japan. In the end, the 1-1 scoreline was final.
Final group standings: (1) Netherlands (2) Japan (3) Sweden (4) Tunisia
Australia and Paraguay cancel each other out in boring draw
There was very, very little to see here as both teams seemed content with a draw. It would put both teams on four points, with Australia ahead in 2nd due to a superior goal difference. But 4 points should also be enough for Paraguay to be one of the eight best 3rd placed teams and qualify for the Round of 32, as well.
Türkiye and USA play out most exciting dead rubber match of all time
All right, the title may be a slight exaggeration. But for a match in which neither team stood to benefit anything aside from pride, it was a good match. Türkiye had already been knocked out of the tournament due to two losses from their previous two games, while the USA had already won their group through their wins.
This resulted in the USMNT rotating in many, many positions. One of the reserves to make the field for this match was Aaron Trusty, who was in the right place at the right time to control the ball from a corner and lash it home for his first ever USMNT goal at 27, as well as the opening goal of the game.
But Türkiye looked to strike back. Having failed their fans too often over the years, they needed to salvage some pride, starting with scoring their first goal of the tournament. They did so with a bit of clever thinking from striker Baris Yilmaz and Arda Güler, which notably heightened the spirits of the team. The second goal followed soon thereafter as a result of some very pretty play. Kenan Yildiz and Arda Güler combined to release full back Eren Elmali down the left, where he put in the ball to be lashed into the back of the net.
Sebastian Berhalter would draw the USMNT level in the second half with a thunderstrike from outside of the box, but Türkiye would have the last laugh. After the seven minutes of initial stoppage time had already passed, substitutes Can Uzun and Kaan Ayhan linked up to see the former play the ball across the six-yard box for the latter stab home.
Türkiye may not have saved their qualifying chances but now they return home with a bit more pride.
Final group standings: (1) USA (2) Australia (3) Paraguay (4) Türkiye
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