2026 World Cup: Germany snatches 2-1 win over Ivory Coast behind Deniz Undav brace

Ivory Coast’s chance to advance to its first-ever World Cup knockout round will have to wait, thanks to a powerful comeback from Germany behind a second-half brace from Deniz Undav.

The Elephants are on a dream run, stunning Ecuador with a 1-0 win last week. And for a moment, it looked like they would do it again against European heavyweight Germany: Ivory Coast struck first, going up 1-0 in the 30 minute behind a great shot from captain Franck Kessié off the rebound.

That unexpected scoreline held through the rest of the first half and into the start of the second, as the Germans simply couldn’t find their way past the Ivorian back line and keeper Yahia Fofana.

In the 60th minute, German head coach Julian Nagelsmann tried to shake things up with a trio of substitutions. That ended up being a brilliant move: Eight minutes later, substitute Deniz Undav found Germany’s equalizer, hitting the volley off a great ball from Nadiem Amiri.

Germany’s momentum didn’t let up after drawing level, but it took until stoppage time for the Germans to pull ahead. Once again, it was Undav in the right place, getting the turn to find the back of the net again and give Germany the win.

This story will be updated.