Ecuador went into the game knowing they needed to beat the already-qualified Germany if they wanted to progress to the Round of 32, as La Tri sat third on two points after the opening two games.

Caicedo captained Ecuador, while Kendry Paez was an unused substitute, but they got off to an awful start as Leroy Sane took the lead just two minutes into the contest in controversial circumstances, after his neat first-time finish came following a high boot in the build-up.

A stunning strike from Nilson Angulo seven minutes later levelled the scoring but despite plenty of endeavour and attacking threat, it looked as though Ecuador might be heading out of the competition as we entered the final quarter of an hour.

However, in the 77th minute, a good flick on from impactful substitute Kevin Rodriguez at a corner saw Gonzalo Plata gets his boot to the ball before Manuel Neuer and lift his shot into the roof of the net.

Manager Sebastián Beccacece, who has now only lost two of his 23 matches in charge of Ecuador, ran up the touchline as players and staff celebrated what they knew was a potentially pivotal strike.

And at the final whistle, Caicedo dropped to his knees and was clearly emotional as he looked to the sky to celebrate one of - if not the greatest - moment in Ecuador's football team history.