Referee Tori Penso to Officiate Germany's Group Match Against Ecuador

Penso will be assisted by Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, both also from the USA. The fourth official is Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh from New Zealand. García will be in action on Friday (1:00 AM) in the match between Tunisia and the Netherlands, which will also be broadcast in the Sportschau livestream.

Germany Already Confirmed as Group Winner

The German team goes into the match already as group winner. Following the 7-1 opening victory against Curaçao and the 2-1 win against Ivory Coast on Saturday in Toronto, the team coached by national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann had already secured its place in the round of the sixteen. Deniz Undav had scored twice as a substitute against Ivory Coast. The 0-0 draw between Curaçao and Ecuador had additionally sealed Germany's group win.

After the hard-fought win against Ivory Coast, Nagelsmann expressed satisfaction with the impact of his substitutes: „Das hat emotional schon eine Wirkung.“ The national team coach cannot, however, nominate a replacement for the injured Nico Schlotterbeck – late replacements at the World Cup are only possible up to 24 hours before a team's first match.

Schlotterbeck Out for the Rest of the Tournament

Schlotterbeck had suffered a torn ligament in his left ankle during the match against Ivory Coast. The DFB confirmed the diagnosis on Sunday following an examination. For the 26-year-old central defender from Borussia Dortmund, who was considered the only left-footed standard central defender in the German squad, the World Cup is over. He will be out for several months and will also miss Borussia Dortmund's start to the new season.

Schlotterbeck addressed the fans via Instagram: „Hi Fans, ich brauche noch etwas Zeit, um das Ganze zu verarbeiten und später darüber zu sprechen. Deshalb wird es von mir vorerst keine ausführlichen Worte dazu geben.“ He later added: „Was jetzt zählt, ist die Mannschaft“ and called for unity: „Lasst uns zusammenstehen und zeigen, dass wir in guten wie in schwierigen Momenten hinter dieser deutschen Mannschaft stehen und sie auf ihrem Weg zum WM-Titel unterstützen!“. Defender Antonio Rüdiger had already replaced him without error against Ivory Coast.

Fair Play Debate After the Match Against Ivory Coast

A scene in the 80th minute sparked discussion after the match against Ivory Coast: Wilfried Singo had gone down after a challenge with Kai Havertz but had still played the ball out before stumbling back onto the pitch to prevent a quick German throw-in. Ivory Coast coach Emerse Faé criticized the German team's behavior with the words: „Wir hätten uns gewünscht, dass sie uns den Ball zurückspielen“.

General Conditions of the World Cup in North America

DFB President Bernd Neuendorf, 64, in the meantime expressed satisfaction with the early group win: „Dass unsere Mannschaft vorzeitig den Gruppensieg erreicht hat, erfüllt mich mit Stolz und Glück.“ On Monday (11:00 AM local time, 5:00 PM CEST) Nadiem Amiri is scheduled for a press conference. Training on Tuesday and Wednesday is planned in Winston-Salem before the team travels on to New York/New Jersey.

The World Cup is being held in the USA, Mexico, and Canada and runs for 38 days from June 11. For the first time, 48 teams are participating in 12 preliminary groups. The USA had opened their group with a 4-1 against Paraguay and a 2-0 against Australia. Norway, participating in a World Cup for the first time since 1998, defeated Iraq 4-1.