Deniz Undav did not start Sunday’s match for Germany. By the time the final whistle blew, he was the only reason anyone will remember it.
The VfB Stuttgart striker came off the bench in the 59th minute against Ivory Coast at Toronto Stadium and scored twice, including a stoppage-time winner, to flip a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory. The result locked up Germany’s spot in the World Cup knockout stage and all but guaranteed they’ll top the group.
It was Undav’s second straight multi-goal game off the bench. He now has three goals in two appearances at this tournament, which is not bad for a guy Julian Nagelsmann didn’t trust to start.
A first half that tested Germany’s nerve
Ivory Coast came out swinging. They pressed high, they disrupted Germany’s build-up, and in the first half they got exactly what they deserved. Franck Kessie fired the Ivorians ahead after a slick sequence that caught the German defense flat-footed. Yan Diomande and Amad Diallo caused constant problems, creating multiple chances that could have put the game out of reach before the break.
Germany controlled possession but looked toothless in the final third. They moved the ball well. They just could not do anything dangerous with it.
Nagelsmann made a halftime change, pulling Nico Schlotterback for Antonio Rudiger to stabilize the back line. But the real shift came just before the hour mark when he sent on Undav, Jamie Leweling and Nadiem Amiri all at once.
Undav turns the game around
The equalizer came in the 68th minute. Undav found space in the box and finished calmly, leveling the match and giving Germany a foothold they had been missing all night. Fox Sports posted the clip on X, and the reaction was immediate: a bench player suddenly carrying the weight of an entire nation.
Ivory Coast did not fold. They kept pushing for a winner themselves, which left gaps at the back. Germany exploited them in the fourth minute of stoppage time. A ball was fired into Undav’s feet from midfield. He turned, took one touch, and slotted it past the keeper. Clean. Decisive. Done.
The 29-year-old striker has now scored three times in this World Cup without starting a single game. That is a strange kind of flex, but it is working.
What this means for the group
Germany sits on six points with a plus-six goal difference. They are through to the knockouts and almost certainly finished first in the group, barring some truly weird mathematics in the final round of fixtures.
Ivory Coast, meanwhile, needs to win their last group match and hope results elsewhere go their way. Ecuador still has two games left, so nothing is settled yet. But the Ivorians know they had Germany on the ropes and let them off. That is a tough one to shake.
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