Germany defeated Ivory Coast in their second game of the Group D, in what was a thriller of a contest, that needed a stoppage time strike from Denis Undav for them to get through. They have thus joined USA and Canada as the third team to officially qualify for the Round of 32, the knockout stage of the tournament. This happened because they have won two games out of two of the Group stage. This win has now broken an 11-year-long curse for the German team.
Germany won the FIFA World Cup for the last time in 2014. This was also the last time that Germany managed to qualify for a knockout stage of a tournament. In the 2018 and 2022 editions, Germany were knocked out from the group stages of the FIFA World Cup. Hence, as they managed to reach the knockout stage of the tournament, they endured their 12-year-long curse.
Denis Undav Brace Helps Germany Get Past Ivory Coast
Following their ruthless 7-1 dismantling of Curacao in their opening fixture, Germany entered the match brimming with confidence but quickly found themselves frustrated by a resolute and defensively brilliant setup of Ivory Coast.
Despite Germany dominating possession and generating high-quality chances, it was the Elephants who struck first. In the 30th minute, an initial cross-turned-shot from Amad Diallo caused chaos in the German penalty area, allowing captain Frank Kessie to smash the ball past the German goal.
Germany’s first-half woes were compounded by two disallowed goals, including a spectacular save by Yahia Fofana on a Kai Havertz header and a chalked-off corner-kick finish from Aleksandar Pavlovic due to a foul on the goalkeeper.
Trailing at the break, Germany ramped up the pressure in the second half, but failed to find the equalizer till they made some substitutes. Their persistence paid off in the 68th minute when Deniz Undav found the net finally.
As the match stretched in its dying moments, both sides had opportunities to snatch all three points. Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra missed a golden chance on a counter-attack in the 88th minute, a squandered opportunity that the team would soon regret. Deep into stoppage time, Felix Nmecha threaded a brilliant pass to Undav just inside the box. The VfB Stuttgart striker calmly controlled the ball, turned, and fired past a scrambling Fofana to win the game for the Germans.
