How Deniz Undav became Germany’s World Cup 2026 supersub

Denis Undav turns 30 on Sunday, July 19. A significant date for another reason – it's is the date of the 2026 World Cup Final which will be played at the cavernous MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to many if Germany were involved in it.

Undav is the unlikely hero, whose two goals off the bench saw Julian Nagelsmann’s team come from behind to beat Ivory Coast and win Group E with a match to spare.

Germany will play Ecuador in their last group fixture before meeting a third-placed team at Gillette Stadium in the round of 32. Undav’s unexpected impact could be exactly the springboard they needed.

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How revitalised Deniz Undav has become Germany’s secret weapon

Deniz Undav of Germany (Image credit: Getty Images)

If there are any Stuttgart flags on the way to MetLife for Germany’s clash with Ecuador on Thursday, FIFA officials will be checking them for images of Undav.

Germany’s attacking threat is more about maximising dynamic forward players than funnelling their play towards one focal point but Undav’s return to German football two years ago has seen him emerge as a potent source of firepower.

Undav celebrates scoring for Stuttgart (Image credit: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Undav also scored Germany’s seventh goal against Curacao in their first Group E match. Only Lionel Messi, the World Cup’s record scorer, has more goals in the early part of this summer’s tournament.

The 29-year-old centre-forward never represented his country at under-age levels and didn’t make his senior international debut until March 2024, at the age of 27. He scored his first international goal six months later.

Of his 11 caps, eight have been as a substitute. Nagelsmann has been able to extract from Undav a highly effective streak of useful goals that includes six goals in his last five appearances and three in two at the World Cup.

In all, the former Premier League striker has scored nine goals in 427 minutes of international football, a rate of nearly one every 45 minutes. That’s the sort of record that can make for a very handy tournament player.

If Undav seems to have come out of nowhere at the international level, his emergence won’t surprise anyone familiar with his time at Stuttgart.

Undav scored five Premier League goals (Image credit: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

Undav joined the Tony Bloom stable when he signed for Union Saint-Gilloise in 2020. After two prolific seasons in Belgium and five goals in 22 Premier League appearances for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022-23, the Lower Saxony-born centre-forward went on loan to Stuttgart and hasn’t looked back.

Life in the Bundesliga has strapped rocket skates to a late-blooming hitman. Undav signed for Stuttgart permanently in August 2024 and has been scoring for fun ever since.

Just ask Borussia Dortmund against whom he scored a hat-trick last November, or Augsburg, who conceded two Undav goals on two separate occasions last season.

Nagelsmann might not have a truly elite centre-forward but what he does have in Kai Havertz and Undav is one forward who’s everything he needs and one with the wherewithal to turn things around if that doesn’t work.

Could Deniz Undav fire Germany to the World Cup final on his birthday? Let us know in the comments below…