It took less than two minutes for Germany to take the lead in Thursday’s group stage match against Ecuador. Off a throw-in, Germany got the ball to Leroy Sané, who sent in a lovely shot that slipped past goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez.
2ND MINUTE GOAL FOR GERMANY AT NY/NJ STADIUM 🇩🇪
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 25, 2026
Leroy Sané gets his team off to a flying start vs Ecuador pic.twitter.com/V9Furz7lJ2
But on replay, there was a clear high boot foul in the immediate run-up to the goal. German midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović, who received the throw-in, lifted his leg high in the air to wrangle the ball.
Pavlović’s kick was not only in line with the face of Ecuador midfielder Pedro Vite, but appeared to have even made contact with Vite’s face. The kick appears to be a high boot or high foot challenge, which should have resulted in a foul. That would have disallowed the goal and given Ecuador a free kick at the spot of the foul.
No foul called on Germany here on the play that led to a goal pic.twitter.com/wVhEaNZNfc
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 25, 2026
However, after review, the goal did not get called back. Ecuador players (and fans) were furious after the non-call, and argued with center referee Tori Penso. In the end, though, it was the decision of VAR (video assistant referee) Joe Dickerson, who reviewed the goal but did not see a reason to have Penso take a closer look at the foul.
Ecuador ended up getting the equalizer just seven minutes later, tying things up at 1-1. It was the first goal of the World Cup for La Tri, who has struggled mightily in this tournament, and who needs a win in order to keep their goals of advancing to the knockout stage alive.
Later, in the second half, Dickerson and VAR did step in on another foul, this time in Ecuador’s favor: Penso had initially given Germany a penalty kick, but after review, Ecuador was instead awarded a free kick further back.
This story will be updated.
