Antonio Rüdiger comes on to start 2nd half and provides stability to German backline
Four-time World Cup Champions Germany secured their passage into the knockout round for the first time since lifting the cup in 2014, defeating Ivory Coast 2-1 in Toronto through a double from Stuttgart’s Denis Undav who came on in the 60th minute. Julian Nagelsmann chose the same starting 11 that routed Curacao 7-1 in the opening match, once again opting to leave 33-year-old Real Madrid centre-back Antonio Rüdiger
on the bench in favor of Bayern Munich’s Jonathan Tah and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck. Rüdiger did come on at the beginning of the 2nd half, perhaps as a result of a knock Schlotterbeck received in the 15th minute that forced him off the pitch to receive medical attention. Rüdiger had 5 defensive contributions in the 2nd half (2 blocks, 2 clearances, 1 tackle) and completed 28 of 29 passes.
Germany had an opportunity to open the scoring in the 10th minute from a Kai Havertz header which was saved by goalkeeper Yahia Fofana’s and again in the 18th minute when Jamal Musiala‘s shot from outside the box curled just wide of Fofana’s left goalpost. Four minutes later a deflected shot from outside the box from Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha’s went just over the crossbar. The Germans thought they had finally scored from the subsequent corner kick through a header from Bayern Munich’s Aleksandar Pavlović, but it was determined that the Munich-born Pavlović fouled Fofana in his pursuit of the ball.
All eyes were on Ivory Coast’s 19-year-old winger Yan Diomande, the subject of a reported €100 million bid from Liverpool this week. And it was Diomande that created the danger that led to the first goal of the match in the 30th minute, sending a cross that found Manchester United’s Amad Diallo inside the box. Diallo’s shot was blocked by left-back Nathaniel Brown, but ex-AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder Frank Kessié pounced on the ensuing rebound to open the scoring and give Ivory Coast a surprising half-time lead.
Nagelsmann had seen enough and in the 60th minute made 3 changes, replacing Musiala, Pavlović and Leroy Sané with Undav, attacking midfielder Jamie Leweling and Mainz 05’s attacking midfielder Nadiem Amiri. And those changes paid almost immediate dividends as a sensational cross from Amiri found Undav inside the box in the 68th minute, the Stuttgart forward meeting the cross with a superb first touch strike to tie the match. Undav is coming off a spectacular season at Stuttgart, finishing 2nd in the Bundesliga with 19 goals and has now scored 9 times and distributed 4 assists in his last 8 matches with the Germany shirt, bringing into question how much longer Nagelsmann can afford to leave him out of the starting 11.
The match had a frenetic finish as Ivory Coast has an excellent chance to retake the lead in the 88th minute when Nicolas Pépé fed Simon Adingra all alone, Adingra wasting the chance by not attempting a first touch effort. Less than a minute later Fofana needed to make a fine save on Nathaniel Brown’s shot from inside the box. But the best was yet to come as Undav’s 2nd goal of the match arrived in the 94th minute, helping Germany become the 3rd team to reach the knockout rounds, joining the USA and Mexico.
Germany closes out the group phase against Ecuador on Thursday in New Jersey while Ivory Coast looks to secure a place in the knockout rounds against Curaçao that same day in Philadelphia.
