Late strike gets Germany past Ivory Coast, into knockout round
Substitute Deniz Undav scored his second and third goals of the World Cup and Germany rallied to clinch a spot in the knockout phase with an enthralling 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in Group E competition on Saturday in Toronto.
After leveling in the 68th minute, Undav sealed all three points with a wonderful instinctive finish in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a return for Germany (2-0-0, 6 points) to the knockout round for the first time since they won their fourth World Cup in 2014.
It was only the 29-year-old's fourth and fifth goals in a competitive international fixture after making his senior international debut in 2024. Germany will win Group E if Ecuador draws or loses against Curacao later Saturday.
Undav's brace reversed Franck Kessie's first-half opener for Ivory Coast (1-1-0, 3 points), who are still in a strong position to advance to their first knockout phase in program history.
But Les Elephants missed out on a golden opportunity, particularly after Simon Adingra failed to put an effort on target on a glorious 88th-minute opportunity, leaving the door open for Undav's heroics.
After Undav took a simple but exquisitely calm volley from Nadiem Amiri's cross to level the match, his winner was even better.
With his back to goal, he deftly settled Felix Nmecha's strong pass with his first touch, then spun his body and fired a lovely finish past Yahia Fofana with his second.
After earning Man of the Match honors in Ivory Coast's 1-0 opening win over Ecuador, 19-year-old Yan Diomande was the creative force behind Les Elephants' opening goal, beating Joshua Kimmich down to the byline on the left and driving in a menacing low cross.
Amad Diallo's initial effort was blocked by lunging defender Nathaniel Brown, but Kessie cleaned up the rebound with an instinctive low finish from close range.
Referee Juan Gabriel Benitez ruled out potential Germany goals on either side of Kessie's strike. He first spotted a foul on Aleksandar Pavlovic while winning a header over Fofana in the 23rd minute, then similarly ruled out Kai Havertz's finish for a 40th-minute foul by Jamal Musiala that led to the opportunity.
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