United News of Bangladesh

Substitute Deniz Undav scored twice as Germany rallied from a goal down to beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday and secure a place in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. Germany struggled for much of the match and trailed after the first half before coach Julian Nagelsmann's substitutions transformed the game. Undav, who came on in the 60th minute along with Nadiem Amiri, levelled the score in the 68th minute. Amiri's long pass found the striker after Kai Havertz let the ball run through, and Undav fired home from close range. The forward struck again four minutes into stoppage time, converting a pass from Felix Nmecha in front of goal to complete the comeback and extend Germany's winning streak to 11 matches, dating back to September 2025. "It is important that everyone sees that even the players from the bench can decide games," Undav said after the match. Nagelsmann praised the striker's impact, saying, "Deniz is nobody who needs to be prepared. He can jump in right away." The four-time world champions have now bounced back from disappointing group-stage exits in the 2018 and 2022 tournaments and moved into the knockout rounds for the first time since winning the World Cup in 2014. Ivory Coast took the lead in the 30th minute through captain Franck Kessie. The midfielder capitalised after Amad Diallo's effort was blocked by German defender Nathaniel Brown, slotting the rebound into an open net. Germany had two goals disallowed in the first half. In the 21st minute, goalkeeper Yahia Fofana inadvertently pushed the ball into his own net, but Aleksander Pavlovic was penalised for fouling the goalkeeper in the build-up. A second effort, which would have given Kai Havertz a goal in the 38th minute, was ruled out after Jamal Musiala was judged to have committed a foul during the move. The defeat leaves Ivory Coast still searching for a first appearance in the World Cup knockout stage, though the African side remains in contention to qualify. Meanwhile, striker Elye Wahi, who is under investigation in France over alleged betting-related offences during his time at Nice, did not feature for Ivory Coast despite winning a legal battle to enter Canada.