Germany defeat Elephants, secure progression
Germany have secured progression into the next round of the 2026 Fifa World Cup after they defeated group E rivals Ivory Coast 2-1 at the Toronto Stadium on Saturday night.
Die Mannschaft came from a goal down to claim victory thanks to a brace from substitute Deniz Undav, who struck the decisive goal deep into injury time to see the four-time champions bury the ghosts of group stage exits in the last two World Cups.
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Germany started strongly and had several good chances inside the opening quarter, including Kai Havertz seeing a header saved by Yahia Fofana, Jamal Musiala and Felix Nmecha shooting just off target, and a goal perhaps harshly disallowed for an aerial foul by Aleksandar Pavlovich on the Ivorian goalkeeper.
Die Mannschaft appeared to have all the momentum on their side, but on the half-hour mark, the Elephants claimed the lead against the run of play. Yan Diomande did great work down the left to fire in a low cross which found Amad Diallo – he failed to get away a first-time shot, and his second attempt was blocked, but the rebound was steered into the back of the net by Franck Kessie.
In the 38th minute, an Ivorian counterattack nearly brought a second goal, with Ange Yoan Bonny curling a shot on target from the edge of the box, but goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a notable save.
A minute later, Germany thought they had equalised when Havertz swept home from close range, but for the second time, the goal was disallowed for a foul by the European side – this time from Musiala on Odilon Kossounou.
A goal up at the interval, the Elephants began to play with even greater confidence in the early stages of the second half, and they missed a great opportunity to double their lead in the 51st minute when Diallo teed up Christ Inao Oulai, who whipped a shot over the target.
UNDAV TO THE RESCUE
On the hour mark, Germany turned to their bench in an effort to turn the game around, with Jamie Leweling, Deniz Undav and Nadiem Amiri replacing Leroy Sane, Musiala and Pavlovic.
Havertz soon missed a chance to level the game, heading wide from a corner kick in the 64th minute when Fofana failed to get a hand on the ball.
By this stage, Germany had seized control of the game and two substitutes combined to make it 1-1 in the 68th minute: Amiri’s cross from the right was just beyond the reach of Havertz, but Undav arrived late in the middle of the six-yard box to volley home.
The Elephants responded with a triple change of their own a few minutes later (sending on Evann Guessand, Seko Fofana and Simon Adingra), and they were able to wrestle back a sense of control and attacking impetus.
In fact, they had a fantastic opportunity to restore the lead in the 88th minute when another substitute, Nicolas Pepe, burst clear down the right flank and teed up Adingra, but the Sunderland winger opted for a touch rather than a first-time hit, and the chance was lost.
Just a few seconds later, Ivory Coast needed goalkeeper Fofana to make a great save to turn away Nathaniel Brown’s low drive from the left of the penalty area, while the early stages of injury time saw Amiri force another save from the Elephants’ No 1.
Deniz Undav comes off the bench to win a Group E thriller 😤🇩🇪#FIFAWorldCup2026 | #DStvFIFAWorldCup2026 | #EverythingCanWait pic.twitter.com/EqC6ooxDDF — SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) June 20, 2026
The match looked set to end in a stalemate, but in the fourth of six added minutes, Undav struck again to win the game for Germany, beautifully controlling Nmecha’s sharp pass into the box before turning and firing beyond Fofana for a 2-1 scoreline.
The teams will conclude their group E campaigns with concurrent matches on the evening (22:00 CAT) of Thursday 25 June, with Ivory Coast facing Curacao in Philadelphia, while Germany tackle Ecuador in New Jersey.
Germany (0) 2 (D. Undav 68’ 90+4’)
Ivory Coast (1) 1 (F. Kessie 30’)
Germany: M. Neuer, J. Kimmich, J. Tah, N. Schlotterbeck (A. Rudiger 46’), N. Brown, F. Nmecha, A. Pavlovic (N. Amiri 60’), L. Sane (J. Leweling 60’), J. Musiala (D. Undav 60’), F. Wirtz, K. Havertz (L. Goretzka 85’)
Ivory Coast: Y. Fofana, W. Singo (G. Doue 83’), O. Kossounou, E. Agbadou, G. Konan, A. Diallo (S. Adingra 75’), F. Kessie, I. Sangare (S. Fofana 75’), Y. Diomande (N. Pepe 85’), A. Bonny (E. Guessand 75’), C. Inao Oulai
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