TORONTO — Deniz Undav scored twice after being subbed in during the second half as Germany defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday and clinched a spot in the knockout phase at the World Cup for the first time since 2014.
Undav’s first goal of the match came after Nadiem Amiri sent in a long ball, which striker Kai Havertz didn’t collect, to Undav, who slammed it into the back of the net at the 68th minute. Amiri and Undav had subbed in eight minutes earlier.
“It’s important that everyone sees that even the players from the bench can decide games,” said Undav, who also scored in Germany’s 7-1 opening match rout of Curaçao. “Now we have a really important signal to the team. I think that’s very important in a game like this.”
Four-time champions Germany have come back from disappointing group stage exits in 2018 and 2022, while Ivory Coast are still searching for their first knockout stage appearance and could still qualify. The last time Germany got past the group stage was in 2014, when they won the tournament.
Their goalkeeper on that occasion, Manuel Neuer, made more history Saturday, making his 21st World Cup appearance to surpass France’s Hugo Lloris as the goalkeeper with the most games played in the competition.
Germany join co-hosts Mexico and the United States in claiming a berth in the last 32.
“Think we showed great character today,” Undav said. “We want to achieve the most.”
Undav is the fourth player in World Cup history to score tying and winning goals as a substitute in the same match.
“Deniz is nobody who needs to be prepared,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “He can jump in right away.”
The one setback for Germany on the day was an injury that forced defender Nico Schlotterbeck off at halftime.
“We have to wait for the scans but it doesn’t look good,” Nagelsmann said. “He did really well to keep playing until half time and now we just have to wait and see what the news is.”
Germany will face Ecuador in their final group game Thursday, while Ivory Coast take on Curaçao at the same time.
Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessié opened the scoring in the 30th minute at Toronto’s BMO Field after midfielder Yan Diomande sent in a cross to forward Amad Diallo. His shot was blocked by Germany’s Nathaniel Brown, but the ball bounced back to Kessie, who slotted it in the open left corner of the net.
Germany had two goals waved off in a frustrating first half. The first was in the 21st minute, when Fofana batted the ball into his own net, but Germany midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic made illegal contact with Fofana on the play.
The second came in the 38th minute on a foul, as Jamal Musiala was called for contact on the build-up to what would’ve been a Havertz goal.
After a court fight to get into Canada, Elye Wahi, the Ivory Coast striker under investigation for alleged betting-related offenses while playing in France for Nice, did not play.
The Associated Press, ESPN’s Julien Laurens and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
