The race for Group A’s top spot is still wide open.
In a battle between two sides who won their openers, Ecuador looked far more dangerous than the Netherlands but couldn’t fully capitalize in what ended as a 1-1 draw. After 23-year-old Cody Gakpo opened scoring for the Oranje with a beautiful sixth-minute strike, they managed just one more shot the rest of the way. La Tri surged on the counterattack and striker Enner Valencia scored his World Cup-leading third goal to equalize just after halftime.
Ecuador took hold of momentum following another goal by its all-time leading scorer and threatened time and time again in the second half. A shot from Real Valladolid’s Gonzalo Plata in the 60th minute beat Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert but rocketed off the crossbar. All told, La Tri out-created the Netherlands 1.7 expected goals (xG) to 0.07, and while the result will be disappointing it sets them up with a showdown against Senegal that will likely decide who reaches the knockout stage.
