World Cup 2026 Group E looks like a mere formality for Germany surrounded by first timers Curaçao, the surprising runner’s up of South American qualifying Ecuador, and the Ivory Coast who return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014. Ivory Coast have never made it out of the Group Stage, and Ecuador have made the Round of 16 once. Ivory Coast and Curaçao both topped their World Cup qualifying group and Germany topped their group too, but they haven’t made it out of the Group Stage at the last two World Cups. One of those can be explained by previous winner’s curse, but the not so much. So who knows, maybe the upset of the World Cup is waiting first up between Germany and Curaçao.

FIXTURES

Match AEST Day Date AEST Time Team1 Team2 Ground Location Result
10 Monday Jun-14 3:00 Germany Curaçao NRG Stadium  Houston Preview
9 Monday Jun-14 9:00 Ivory Coast Ecuador Lincoln Financial Field  Philadelphia Preview
33 Sunday Jun-20 9:00 Germany Ivory Coast BMO Field  Toronto
34 Sunday Jun-20 12:00 Ecuador Curaçao Arrowhead Stadium  Kansas City
55 Friday Jun-25 6:00 Curaçao Ivory Coast Lincoln Financial Field  Philadelphia
56 Friday Jun-25 6:00 Ecuador Germany MetLife Stadium  East Rutherford
   

GROUP STATS

2026 FIFA World Cup Group E Summary
Team Method of qualification Date of qualification Total WC Appearances Previous World Cup Previous best effort
Ecuador CONMEBOL runners-up 10/06/2025 5 2022 Round of 16 (2006)
Ivory Coast CAF Group F winners 14/10/2025 4 2014 Group stage (2006, 2010, 2014)
Germany UEFA Group A winners 17/11/2025 21 2022 Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
Curaçao CONCACAF third round Group B winners 18/11/2025 0 0 Debut
 

PREDICTIONS

Here’s where we put our money where our mouth is. Using all of the stats below and more, we have developed a H2H win rating for both teams for all Group Stage games. If the rating is within 5% of each other we’re calling a draw, otherwise the higher the rating the more likely to win. From there we come up with our prediction on the final table. All of that is available below for following, arguing or ignoring. We welcome any. H2H MATCH RATINGS
Match Team1 Ratings Team2 Ratings Match Prediction
10 Germany 74.9% Curaçao 25.1% Germany
9 Ivory Coast 49.4% Ecuador 50.6% Draw
33 Germany 63.4% Ivory Coast 36.6% Germany
34 Ecuador 63.2% Curaçao 36.8% Ecuador
55 Curaçao 45.5% Ivory Coast 54.5% Ivory Coast
56 Ecuador 33.0% Germany 67.0% Germany
  FINAL TABLE PREDICTION
Team Pts
Germany 9
Ecuador 4
Ivory Coast 4
Curaçao 0

GENERAL STATS