A quick check of this group's defensive record in qualifying and it's pretty easy to see why they're all here. Yes, they can all score goals, but this group is going to have a more defensive feel to it overall I think.
Germany and Curacao allowed just three goals in six European and CONCACAF qualifiers respectively, Ecuador just five in 18 CONEMBOL matches, and Ivory Coast allowed none in 10 matches. In a group that had over 100 goals scored, yes Seychelles allowed half of them but still, these are absurd defensive numbers.
Now we don't expect that defensive record for Curacao in particular to hold up, but I think it makes for a fascinating group dynamic. If goals are at a premium, a team like Ecuador in particular who especially loves low scoring games, could have an opportunity to steal this group.
Why a primer and not a preview? Because this is more of a handy reference guide than it is expert analysis. I did not watch or scout 32 international teams to prepare for the World Cup let alone 48 of them because I enjoy sleep and I am not apologizing.
TV SCHEDULE
Sunday, June 14
Match 9: Germany vs. Curacao, 1 p.m. on Fox (Houston)
Match 11: Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador, 7 p.m. on FS1 (Philadelphia)
Saturday, June 20
Match 34: Germany vs. Ivory Coast, 4 p.m. on Fox (Toronto)
Match 35: Ecuador vs. Curacao, 8 p.m. on FS1 (Kansas City, Mo.)
Thursday, June 25
Match 55: Ecuador vs. Germany, 4 p.m. on Fox (East Rutherford, N.J.)
Match 56: Curacao vs. Ivory Coast, 4 p.m. on FS1 (Philadelphia)
GROUP E TEAM PRIMERS
Author's Notes: FIFA Rankings are from the November 2025 listing at the time of the tournament draw. Players international caps/goals are relatively accurate but may not include the recent warm-up friendlies as research for these articles started weeks ago. Abbreviations next to the country names should be their official Olympic code on the score bug and the Letter/Number is their draw position for the group schedule not their pot from the initial tournament draw. Warm up friendlies in the USA are noted otherwise vs/at indicates true home/away matches.
Jake Catanese
CURACAO [CUW/E2]
Head Coach: Dick Advocaat (NED)
FIFA Ranking: 82 Nickname: Blue Wave
Qualification: CONCACAF (Caribbean), Group B Winners
Appearance: Debut Best Finish: N/A
Roster Breakdown: 12 Netherlands (Domestic*), 3 England, 3 Turkey, 2 USA/USL, 1 Malaysia, 1 Greece, 1 Israel, 1 Belgium, 1 Saudi Arabia, 1 Switzerland
Recent Matches: Friendly L at Scotland 1-4, Friendly W vs Aruba 4-0
Players To Know/Watch: Leandro and Juninho Bacuna, Combined 119 Int’l Caps/30 Int’l Goals – The Bacuna brothers are the stalwarts of the Curacao lineup. If the Blue Wave is going to notch their first goal and/or result at the World Cup on debut, they’re likely going to be involved. Shoutout former Columbus Crew legend in keeper Eloy Room too.
Tournament Outlook
This is another unkind draw for the debutants and CONCACAF, who I think in a different group could have a chance to sneak in as a third place team. But going up against three teams that just don’t give up a lot of goals means it’s going to be an uphill battle to get goals let alone points. That friendly against Scotland could be very telling especially given how Haiti played against them in their Group C opener, but we will ride or die with the Blue Wave regardless.
Sam Lattof
ECUADOR [ECU/E4]
Head Coach: Sebastian Beccacece (ARG)
FIFA Ranking: 23 Nickname: La Tricolor
Qualification: CONEMBOL (S. America) 2nd Place
Appearance: 5th Best Finish: Round of 16 (2006)
Roster Breakdown: 2 Domestic, 5 Brazil, 4 Belgium, 3 Argentina, 3 Mexico, 3 England, 2 Italy, 1 Denmark, 1 France, 1 Germany, 1 Greece
Recent Matches: Friendly (Harrison, NJ) W vs Saudi Arabia 2-1, Friendly (Columbus, OH) W vs Guatemala 3-0
Player To Know: FW Enner Valencia, Pachuca (MEX), 105 Int’l Caps/49 Int’l Goals - Six goals in qualifying, nearly half of Ecuador's total all by himself, the venerable 36 year old striker is still contributing at a high level with 8 goals in 22 LigaMX games last season.
Player To Watch: MF Moises Caicedo, Chelsea (ENG), 60 Int’l Caps/3 Int’l Goals – One of the best holding mids in the world and only 24 years old. Ecuador has a pretty solid backline made all the more stout by the world class stopper in front of them.
Tournament Outlook
I’m going to repeat a previous theme...yes, I probably said this last tournament too, absolutely floored this is only Ecuador’s 5th appearance but it makes more sense when all of them have been since 2002. My favorite darkhorse in everything because of how true to their style they are, they want to counter and be organized and are great at it. Five, yes 5, goals conceded in 18 qualifiers against only scoring 14, in case you're wondering how committed to the bit they are.
Jake Catanese
GERMANY [GER/E1]
Head Coach: Julian Nagelsmann (GER)
FIFA Ranking: 9 Nickname: Die Mannschaft
Qualification: UEFA (Europe) Group A Winners
Appearance: 21st Best Finish: Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
Roster Breakdown: 19 Domestic, 5 England, 1 Spain, 1 Turkey
Recent Matches: Friendly W vs Finland 4-0, Friendly (Chicago) W at USA 2-1
Player To Know: Joshua Kimmich, Bayern Munich (GER), 109 Int’l Caps/9 Int’l Goals – The do it all midfield captain and international centurion at just 31 years old gets to lead a very strong German team in their primes.
Player To Watch: Kai Havertz, Arsenal (ENG), 57 Int’l Caps/21 Int’l Goals – There's any number of attackers we could highlight here but they guy who put Arsenal up inside of ten minutes in the UCL Final, and up on the USMNT two minutes into a friendly, seems like a good place to start the list.
Tournament Outlook
A highly effective team that is just as likely to stymie and smother your attack as they are to pick apart your defense at the other end. Germany is usually a threat to win any tournament they’re in though getting grouped in each of the last two World Cups (after winning it in 2014!) and failing to make the semis in the last two Euros have seen them fall slightly among the world’s elite. More recent results have been a lot better but losing to both Spain and France in the 2025 Nations League semifinals/third place game puts them on the second rung of contenders.
Jake Catanese
IVORY COAST (Cote d’Ivoire) [CIV/E3]
Head Coach: Emerse Fae (FRA)
FIFA Ranking: 42 Nickname: Les Elephants
Qualification: CAF (Africa) Group F Winners
Appearance: 4th Best Finish: Group Stage (2006, 2010, 2014)
Roster Breakdown: 5 Turkey, 3 France, 3 England, 3 Belgium, 3 Italy, 3 Portugal, 2 Germany, 1 Slovenia, 1 Greece, 1 Spain, 1 Saudi Arabia
Recent Matches: Friendly W at France 2-1, Friendly (Chester, PA) @ W at Philadelphia Union II 2-0
Player To Know/Watch: Franck Kessie, Al-Ahli (KSA), 102 Int’l Caps/15 Int’l Goals – The long time AC Milan and one time Barcelona player has been a standout in the Saudi league of late, a true box-to-box midfielder who is just as likely to win the ball back as he is to provide the pass that unlocks your defense.
Tournament Outlook
A near perfect qualifying run saw Ivory Coast go unbeaten in ten games without conceding a single goal. Their only blemishes two scoreless draws away to second place Gabon (who finished a point behind them) and Keyna. They also didn’t rely on a single goal scorer either. Seko Fofana netted three times to lead the Elephants and then eighth players scored twice in qualifying. Team wide production like that gives Ivory Coast a strong chance to not only get out of this group but get their first ever World Cup knockout win.
Josh Nye
GROUP OVERVIEW
This has all the makings of a fantastic group, with two teams that can absolutely challenge Germany for supremacy. The downside is I do think the low scoring style everyone kind of plays fits into what Germany is trying to do as well, so this is going to be a group I think highlighted by a lot of individual brilliance to unlock everyone's brilliant team organization. Then we have what I fear is about to be a very, very bad time on the field for Curacao which I hope doesn't damper the massive party they're going to be deservedly having off of it.
Germany should top this group, but don't be surprised if they drop a couple to a few points along the way. A hilarious three way tie on five points with everyone beating Curacao and drawing everyone else is the root for chaos scenario. I don't think we'll get that far down the rabbit hole but this group will produce a lot of enjoyable soccer and I expect three teams out of this group fairly comfortably though the order of the top three can easily be interchangeable.
Third Place Advancement: High (Ivory Coast)
GROUP PREDICTIONS
- Germany 2. Ecuador 3. Ivory Coast 4. Curacao
