Germany through to knockout stage after victory over Ivory Coast

Germany have reached the knockout stage at the World Cup in Mexico, the USA and Canada. In their second group match on Saturday night in Toronto, Germany beat the Ivory Coast 2–1 thanks to a goal in stoppage time. The six FC Bayern players in the squad – Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah (90 minutes), Aleksandar Pavlović, Jamal Musiala (60’) and Leon Goretzka (from 85’), all featured and helped ensure that Germany, with their second win following the 7–1 victory over Curaçao in their opening match, secured their place in the Round of 32 with a game to play. Thanks to the 0–0 draw between Ecuador and Curaçao, Germany have won the group and will now face a third-placed team.

In an intense and hard-fought encounter, Germany had the better of the chances – including a goal by Pavlović that was disallowed – and enjoyed more possession, but fell behind on 30 minutes following a goal by Franck Kessie. In the second half, Deniz Undav, who had just come on as a substitute, equalised for Germany on 68 minutes. Germany remained the better team in the closing stages – substitute Goretzka made a crucial save in a tricky moment. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Undav netted the goal that sealed a 2–1 victory and secured Germany’s early progress to the knockout stage.

“We showed a winning mentality and team spirit – exactly what you need to be successful in a tournament. We didn’t give up, kept going and knew that chances would come,” said FCB defender Tah after the final whistle. “In the second half, we did better on the ball. The players who started the game, but above all the lads who came on as substitutes, did an outstanding job,” Tah continued. In their final group match, the Germany will face Ecuador in East Rutherford this coming Thursday at 22:00 CEST.

With Bayern Munich player Hiroki Ito in the starting line-up, Japan took a big step towards the Round of 32 with a 4–0 victory over Tunisia that was never in doubt. The Samurai Blue made a dream start. Daichi Kamada gave them an early lead with a spectacular backheel after just three minutes. Before half-time, Ayase Ueda (31’) scored from the edge of the box into the far corner to make it 2–0. With their comfortable lead, Japan took a more measured approach after half-time. However, Tunisia were unable to exploit that. Junya Ito then put the game beyond doubt on 69 minutes, before Ueda (83’) sealed the 4–0 win with his second goal of the game.

With four points from their first two group matches, Japan are level on points with the Netherlands in second place. To round off the group stage, Ito and Japan face Sweden in Dallas at 01:00 CEST on Friday morning.