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 levelling 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 clinched the group with Ecuador and Curacao's draw on Saturday evening. They will face a third-place group finisher in the Round of 32 on June 29th in Foxborough after the final group-stage match against Ecuador on June 25.

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,