Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann was stoic on Thursday after his team lost the final match of the World Cup group stage to Ecuador and said he is ready to look ahead to the knockout round.
Germany, who had already qualified, were defeated despite taking an early lead through a Leroy Sane goal. Germany will play one of the top eight third-place teams in the round of 16 at the Boston Stadium on Monday.
“We have to learn from (the loss) and improve, but we also have to look ahead,” Nagelsmann told reporters. “On Monday it is important that we start well.”
Nagelsmann said the team needs to be “calmer and more active in certain situations” to avoid wasted leads. “When you have such a good start and take the lead, you have to be patient to find the space to build,” he said. “Today we lost a little bit of control after taking the lead.”
Sane, whose previous inconsistency had provoked criticism from some observers, scored his first goal of the World Cup in the second minute. “I was very happy,” said Nagelsmann. «He was in a good position in front of the goal. He really did a good job preparing.»
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The manager made several changes to the match, including replacing midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic at half-time and midfielder Felix Nmecha in the 64th minute.
However, Nagelsmann stopped short of criticizing the performances of both.
“That’s the problem as a coach: you bring one in, you let one go,” he said. “Felix and Pavlo did very well, they gave us a good start for the match… I wasn’t going to put any of them on the bench.”
He was noncommittal about what Monday’s starting lineup might look like. “We will look at Sunday’s training and make a new decision… and we will see who will start then,” he said.
Published on June 26, 2026
