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FIFA World Cup 2026: Deniz Undav wins Germany a place in the round of 32
After drawing level, the Germans were more aggressive as they pressed Ivory Coast’s portion of the field more frequently in the final 10 minutes.
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Prabhjot Paul Singh - Sun, 21, Jun 2026
- 01:15 EDT
- 37
Deniz Undav / Wikimedia commons
They say no game is won or lost till the final whistle. And four times World Cup champions Germany proved it by staging a comeback in its second game in the FIFA World Cup here. By defeating Ivory Coast 2-1, it has become the third team after co-hosts USA and Mexico to advance to the knockout round.
Germany had won its opener 7-1 against Curacao. It was the biggest win of any opener in the World Cup.
Trailing 0-1 in the first half, Germany brought in Deniz Undav in the second half and the move transformed its game
Ivory Coast that looked comfortably placed till the middle of the second half saw its fortunes take a tumble as Deniz Undav came in. While the substitutions worked for Germany, they turned cruel for Ivory Coast who had given an impressive performance in the first half.
It was Deniz Undav who surely won the day for Germany!
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The super sub scored his second of the game to break Ivory Coast hearts with less than two minutes remaining.
It was an incredible finish from the Stuttgart attacker, who received a pass from Felix Nmecha, swivelled and smashed the ball past Yahia Fofana inside the area.
And when the final whistle blew to mark the end of an absorbing encounter, the Ivory Coast players dropped to their knees without knowing what struck them late in the second half. They could not believe, they had lost the battle they thought they had initially won.
Ivory Coast started well as its players showed tremendous speed early in this match and finally broke free to score.
Yan Diomande, who earlier sent a letter to his late sister recalling their poverty ridden days, was cynosure of all eyes in the packed Toronto Stadium with his brilliant runs down the left flank.
During one of his runs, Yan Diomande controlled the ball along the left side of the box and crossed it to Amad Diallo. Diallo’s strike was blocked by German defender Nathaniel Brown, but Franck Kessié caught the rebound at the top right corner of the box and hit a rocket to the back left corner of the next. The lead buoyed the Ivory Coast and its few hundred spectators in the stands.
The combination of the halftime break and subsequent substitutions probably worked for Germany as it made the most of technical skill. In the first half, the Germans seemed to lack the speed required to keep pace with Ivory Coast.
Germany made three substitutions in the 60th minute to try to inject life into its side.
In the 68th minute, Germany finally managed to flip the field and got a decent momentum behind a run at goal. The Germans worked a move to move the ball from just past midfield to the right side. Nadiem Amiir then dribbled up the right side and delivered a high arching pass into the box that substitute Deniz Undav volleyed in for a goal.
After drawing level, the Germans were more aggressive as they pressed Ivory Coast’s portion of the field more frequently in the final 10 minutes. The Ivory Coast defence did try to withstand the pressure of the rejuvenated Germans but ultimately caved in to concede two goals and three points.
It was in fact one precision pass that paved the way for the German to make the knockout round. The Germans sliced through the Ivory Coast defence and stole the lead and ultimately three points in stoppage time.
Felix Nmecha was between midfield and the top of the box when he whistled a ball down the middle into the box to super sub Deniz Undav, who took one touch and fired the ball into the net before Ivory Coast could react. It was 2-1 Germany four minutes into stoppage time.
Stunned Ivory Coast could find no answers in the final two minutes and lost.They have three points after two games.
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