Ivory Coast suffered a painful late collapse at Toronto Stadium on Friday as substitute Deniz Undav scored twice in the second half to hand Germany a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory in their Group E encounter, ending the Elephants’ hopes of topping the group.
Both teams entered the match on three points following winning starts, making it a significant contest in the race for a place in the knockout stage. Germany had arrived full of confidence after a commanding 7-1 demolition of Curaçao, while Ivory Coast had secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Ecuador.
Germany looked to impose themselves from the first whistle. Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala both failed to hit the target early on, and the Germans thought they had broken the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Aleksandar Pavlović headed home from a corner, but a VAR review ruled it out for a foul on goalkeeper Yahia Fofana.
Ivory Coast absorbed the pressure and struck against the run of play. Inspired by the brilliant 19-year-old Yan Diomande, who danced past the Germany defence and delivered a wicked low cross, Franck Kessié reacted quickest to stab the rebound past Manuel Neuer in the 30th minute. Germany had the ball in the net again before the break, only for another effort from Havertz to be disallowed for a foul by Musiala.
Ivory Coast began the second period strongly, with Christ Inao Oulaï lifting over a presentable chance before Diomande dragged a volley wide — moments that would prove costly.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann rolled the dice on the hour mark, introducing Undav, Nadiem Amiri and Jamie Leweling in a triple substitution that transformed the contest. Eight minutes later, Amiri was afforded too much time on the right and curled a wonderful delivery for Undav to convert with a controlled volley.
The winner came deep in stoppage time. Felix Nmecha stayed composed and drilled a pass into Undav, who took a touch to turn before blasting a strike past Fofana to send the German bench into wild celebrations.
The goals gave Undav nine in 11 games for his country. The 29-year-old, a late bloomer who only made his senior international debut two years ago at the age of 27, is now among the joint-top scorers at the tournament. He did not make much of a mark in the Premier League during a stint at Brighton, but his performances for Stuttgart, 25 goals in 46 games last season, earned him a recall and he is fast establishing himself as Germany’s decisive impact player.
Germany ended the match with higher expected goals, 1.83 to 1.23 in their favour, and are now through to the round of 32 with a game to spare. For Ivory Coast, the defeat means they can finish no higher than second in Group E, though a win over Curaçao in their final fixture should be enough to secure progression.
