Undav’s Brace Sends Germany to Round of 32, Defeats Ivory Coast

By Daniel Feuerstein | Toronto, ON | June 20th, 2026

The second group stage match in Group E saw Germany face the Ivory Coast, as the four-time World Cup Champions faced one of the top African sides of that continent. This was a battle on the pitch that you felt one moment could see one of these two sides edging the other, and it happened toward the later stages of the match. After the match ended, the Germans once again found another way to take the full three points and defeated the elephants of the Ivory Coast by a final score of two goals to one.

Deniz Undav scored two goals to get the win

It would be one man and one man only to help the Germans get the victory, and it was Deniz Undav who got himself into a lovely position to score timely goals and grab the full three points to secure the top spot of Group E. He even started the play on his first goal as he set up a quick pass to the far side and allowed Nadiem Amiri to attack up the pitch. When they got close to the area, Amiri delivered a fantastic ball toward the middle of the box. It looked like Kai Havertz would take the shot, but it went over his head, and Undav was at the right place to head it in as he scored in the 68th minute.

The second goal and the game winner were during second half stoppage time when the fourth official posted six minutes on his board. It was a lovely passing play that set up the goal when Florian Wirtz was along the near side of the pitch and made the first pass to Jonathan Tah, then another quick pass to Felix Nmecha. Nmecha saw Undav in front of him and sprang him to make a turn toward the ball. Nmecha laid it off, Undav made the run and scored inside the near post in the fourth minute of six in second half stoppage time for the match winner.

Ivory Coast got on the board first

The Ivory Coast opened the scoring in the first half when Yan Diomande had possession of the ball and attacked down the near side touchline. When he arrived just outside the area, he delivered a strong cross to the middle, which was set up for Amad Diallo. He took the shot, but it was saved by Manuel Neuer. He left a rebound for Franck Kessie, who took the rebound and smashed it home inside the back post in the 30th minute. Kissie and his teammates ran to the far corner and saw sme Fans and gave them the big salute as he put his nation in the lead at the time.

Germany moves on to the Round of 32

After defeating both Curacao and the Ivory Coast, Germany becomes the third nation to move on to the Round of 32 with one match left in the group stage. They join the two host nations, Mexico and the USA, to qualify for the knockout stage. While Curacao has a match to play against Ecuador, and depending on the result of that match, the second and third place finishers will have an interesting battle when they get to the final match day of Group E, and we could see a possible favorite get removed and sent home.

Germany takes the win over the Ivory Coast and advances to the Round of 32 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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