World Cup 2026 Thursday takeaways: USMNT loses first game in heartbreaking fashion

On one hand, that is a brutal way to lose a match and could take some of the momentum away that the United States had built in the group stage.

But it is also a game that had little meaning.

The United States entered Thursday night knowing that it had won its group, and that it was going to be playing Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32. Nothing that happened on Thursday was going to change any of that. 

At times, the United States' play reflected that. But there was still an obvious push for a win only to have it all fall just short.

Perhaps the most encouraging development for the United States in defeat is that Christian Pulisic was able to enter as a reserve and looked dangerous on the attack. It did not translate into a goal for him, but he had his chances and was consistently in good positions. 

Now all focus turns to the knockout stage when the United States will play on Wednesday night. 

Ecuador stuns Germany

Ecuador moved into the knockout stage thanks to a stunning 2-1 win over Germany that saw them overcome a goal against within the first two minutes of the match, and come back against a German team that simply does not lose leads.

Or games of any kind.

Germany entered Thursday's game riding an 11-match winning streak, and it looked as if it was going to easily extend it when Leroy Sane scored in the second minute.

Not only had Germany won 11 matches in a row, but it was only the second time in World Cup play that Germany had lost a match when scoring the first goal. 

Germany had already clinched the top spot in Group E going into Thursday's match, but that does not take away from the fight Ecuador showed to rally back. Or the excitement that followed Gonzalo Plato's late goal. 

Ecuador finished in third place in the group, but managed to get through by ranking high enough among the other third-place finishers.

Ivory Coast makes knockout stage for first time ever

For the first time ever, the Ivory Coast is through to the knockout stage thanks to its 2-0 win over Curacao on Thursday.

Nicolas Pepe scored both goals for the Ivory Coast to secure the win, while also ending Curacao's slim hopes for advancing.

His second goal in the 64th minute helped put the match away. 

Curacao was coming off its first-ever World Cup point when it played Ecuador to a scoreless draw in its second match. 

Netherlands wins Group F with rout of Tunisia

The Netherlands made easy work of Tunisia on Thursday in a 3-1 win that saw them score two goals in the first seven minutes to claim the top spot in Group F.

They entered the day tied with Japan for the top spot, but thanks to the combination of their win over Tunisia and Japan's 1-1 draw with Sweden, Netherlands took the top spot to set up a round-of-32 match with Group C runner-up Morocco. 

That is a substantial difference between what Japan now gets as it has to face Brazil in the knockout stage. 

Tunisia, meanwhile, exits the tournament having gone winless in group play.