Germany vs Ivory Coast LIVE
Super-sub Deniz Undav twice off the bench as Germany came from behind to beat the Ivory Coast in their second group stage match of the World Cup. Germany opened their World Cup campaign with an emphatic 7-1 defeat of Curacao, but were made to work much harder for their victory in Toronto. Franck Kessie opened the scoring before the break against the run of play, tapping home after Amad Diallo’s close-range effort was saved, leaving Julian Nagelsmann to make changes at the break.
He made four substitutions before the hour mark and they had a clear effect as Nadiem Amiri assisted Undav’s equaliser. Both sides enjoyed plentiful chances through a frantic final 20 minutes and Ivory Coast keeper Yahia Fofana made several big saves, but Undav finally beat him in the fourth of six added minutes to ensure Germany remained atop Group I.
Germany return to action next week, facing Ecuador, while Ivory Coast will finish out their group stage campaign against the minnows Curacao. Catch up with the action live as it happens below with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog.
Germany vs Ivory Coast latest news
Live updates
Ivory Coast team news
A handful of changes for the Ivory Coast!
Nicolas Pepe drops to the bench, as does Eyle Wahi, with a front two of Yan Diomande and Amad Diallo seemingly getting the nod.
Oulai also comes in to start, while full-back Guela Doue is dropped.
Germany team news
As expected, Nagelsmann has gone strong. It is the exact same starting XI which he named against Curacao last week.
Kai Havertz hit a brace in that match and Jamal Musiala also impressed. Let’s see if they can do it again here against stiffer opposition.
IVORY COAST CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS
Ivory Coast XI: Y. Fofana, Konan, Singo, Kossounou, Agbadou, Kessie, Sangare, Oulai, Bonny, Y. Diomande, Diallo
Subs: Kone, Lafont, O. Diomande, Operi, Doue, Ndicka, Seri, S, Fofana, Guiagon, Adingra, Wahi, Diakite, Pepe, Guessand, Toure
GERMANY CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS
Germany XI: Neuer; Tah, Kimmich, Schlotterbeck, Brown, Pavlovic, Musiala, Wirtz, Sane, Nmecha, Havertz
Subs: Baumann, Nuebel, Rudiger, Anton, Raum, Thiaw, Goretzka, Leweling, Gross, Stiller, Amiri, Ouedraogo, Woltemade, Beier, Undav
Predicted XIs
Predicted Germany XI: Neuer; Kimmich, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown; Nmecha, Pavlovic; Sane, Musiala, Wirtz; Havertz
Predicted Ivory Coast XI: Y Fofana; Doue, Singo, Agbadou, Konan; Y Diomande, Kessie, S Fofana, Amad; Pepe, Wahi
Germany vs Ivory Coast head to head
An international friendly in 2009 finished 2-2, after a Lukas Podolski brace and goals from Emmanuel Eboue and Seydou Doumbia at the Allianz Arena.
Germany wins: 0
Ivory Coast wins: 0
Draws: 1
Standard Sport prediction
Musiala is a technical master who can unlock packed defences. Sane offers pace on the left-wing, while Die Mannschaft’s defence is rock-solid. Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck provide a reliable Bayern-Dortmund axis.
Germany should, then, have too much quality.
But Ivory Coast have Diomande and Diallo, who can decide games in an instant - as the latter did against Ecuador.
Expect a tight game, just shaded by Germany.
Germany to win, 2-1.
Ivory Coast early team news
Nicolas Pepe, despite his omission from Ivory Coast’s 2026 AFCON squad, was recalled by Fae, who instead left out former Palace forward Wilfried Zaha.
Pepe, 30, contributed eight goals and eight assists to aid Villarreal securing Champions League football next season.
Amad started on the bench against Ecuador, but his match-winning cameo could see him start.
Ivory Coast squad: Yahia Fofana, Mohamed Koné, Alban Lafont, Emmanuel Agbadou, Clément Akpa, Ousmane Diomande, Guela Doué, Ghislain Konan, Odilon Kossounou, Evan Ndicka, Wilfried Singo, Seko Fofana, Parfait Guiagon, Christ Inao Oulaï, Franck Kessié, Ibrahim Sangaré, Jean-Michaël Seri, Simon Adingra, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Amad Diallo, Oumar Diakité, Yan Diomande, Evann Guessand, Nicolas Pépé, Bazoumana Touré, Elye Wahi
Germany early team news
Germany have no injury concerns ahead of the game. They lost Bayern’s Lennart Karl to a pre-tournament injury - he was replaced by RB Leipzig's Assan Ouedraogo.
They are likely to go ahead with the same lineup: Musiala, Leroy Sane, Wirtz, and Havertz make up a potent quartet.
Wirtz, coming off a difficult season with Liverpool, looked sharp against Curacao.
Germany squad: Manuel Neuer, Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nubel, Joshua Kimmich, Nico Schlotterbeck, David Raum, Jonathan Tah, Waldemar Anton, Antonio Rudiger, Nathaniel Brown, Malick Thiaw, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Lennart Karl, Angelo Stiller, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sane, Felix Nmecha, Nadiem Amiri, Pascal Gross, Kai Havertz, Deniz Undav, Jamie Leweling, Nick Woltemade, Maximilian Beier
How to watch Germany vs Ivory Coast
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on ITV1, with coverage starting at 8pm BST.
Live stream: UK viewers can also catch the contest live online via ITVX app or the channel’s website.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog. That’s this one!
Free highlights: World Cup highlights are available on FIFA’s official YouTube channel, along with ITVX app and their websites.