Germany became the third team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 as they defeated Ivory Coast in their second Group stage game of the tournament. This happened after they secured two wins in their first two games. In both games, the one man that was an integral part of the German setup was the veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The star shot stopper with his appearance against Ivory Coast, has now broken a massive record, and become the first player to achieve a hige feat.
Manuel Neuer now has 21 appearances for Germany in the FIFA World Cup history. This is now the most by any goalkeeper in the history of the competition. He went past France World Cup winner Hugo Lloris, who has 20 appearances to his name in the FIFA World Cup.
Here are the goalkeepers with the most appearances in FIFA World Cup history:
| Rank | Goalkeeper | National Team | World Cup Appearances |
| 1 | Manuel Neuer | Germany | 21 |
| 2 | Hugo Lloris | France | 20 |
| 3 | sepp maier | West Germany | 18 |
| 3 | Claudio Taffarel | Brazil | 18 |
| 5 | Fabien Barthez | France | 17 |
| 5 | Iker Casillas | spain | 17 |
| 5 | Peter Shilton | England | 17 |
| 5 | Dino Zoff | Italy | 17 |
| 9 | Fernando Muslera | Uruguay | 16 |
| 10 | Thibaut Courtois | belgium | 15 |
Germany Seal Thrilling Win Vs 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.
