Undav scores twice as Germany beats Ivory Coast 2-1, advances to World Cup knockout phase

TORONTO (AP) — An hour into the game, Germany was getting outplayed by Ivory Coast and trailed by a goal.

Coach Julian Nagelsmann needed a spark and substituted in three fresh players, one of whom was Deniz Undav. That decision paid off big time.

Undav scored twice as Germany defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday and clinched a spot in the knockout phase at the World Cup.

“It’s important that everyone sees that even the players from the bench can decide games,” said Undav, who also scored in Germany’s 7-1 opening match rout of Curacao. “Now we have a really important signal to the team. I think that’s very important in a game like this.”

Four minutes into stoppage time, Undav received a pass from Felix Nmecha in front of the net and rifled it past Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofana to give the Germans a comeback win. It was the German national team’s 11th straight win, a streak dating to September 2025.

Undav’s first goal of the match came after Nadiem Amiri sent in a long ball – that striker Kai Havertz let pass him by – onto the boot of Undav, who slammed it into the back of the net in the 68th minute. Both Amiri and Undav had subbed on eight minutes earlier.

“Deniz is nobody who needs to be prepared,” Nagelsmann said. “He can jump in right away.”

Four-time champion Germany has come back from disappointing group stage exits in 2018 and 2022, while Ivory Coast is still searching for its first knockout stage appearance and could still qualify. The last time Germany got past the group stage it won the tournament in 2014.

“Think we showed great character today,” Undav said. “We want to achieve the most.”

Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie opened the scoring in the 30th minute after midfielder Yan Diomande sent in a cross to forward Amad Diallo. His shot was blocked by Germany’s Nathaniel Brown, but the ball bounced back to Kessie, who slotted it in the wide-open left corner of the net.

Germany had two goals waved off in a frustrating first half. The first was in the 21st minute when Fofana batted the ball into his own net, but Germany midfielder Aleksander Pavlovic made illegal contact with Fofana on the play.

The second came in the 38th minute on a foul, as Jamal Musiala was called for contact on the build-up to what would’ve been a Havertz goal.

After a court fight to get into Canada, Elye Wahi, the Ivory Coast striker under investigation for alleged betting-related offenses while playing in France for Nice, did not play.

Lexie Linderman is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Germany's Deniz Undav scores their second goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Ivory Coast in Toronto, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Germany's Deniz Undav (26) scores their second goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Ivory Coast in Toronto, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Ivory Coast in Toronto, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Germany's Deniz Undav (26) is mobbed by teammates after scoring their second goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Ivory Coast in Toronto, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Germany's Deniz Undav (26) scores their second goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Ivory Coast in Toronto, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Less than 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Los Angeles' World Cup stadium sits the hotel housing Iran's team. The entrance to the Marriott in Tijuana, Mexico, is barricaded, flanked by police and members of the Mexican National Guard, guns held close. No one enters without a hotel reservation or special pass.

Despite the tensions and challenges surrounding Iran's participation in the World Cup, early Saturday morning finds the mood inside the four-star hotel relaxed, even jubilant. Several dozen fans mingle and bond over their shared excitement to see the squad's players before they depart for their second group-stage match.

“I wanted to come down to support Iranian soccer, and cheer for them when they exited the building and make them happy,” says Lucas Zarrabi, 13. The teen, who attended Monday's 2-2 draw with New Zealand and has a ticket for Sunday's match against Belgium, is one of several fans from Los Angeles who made the drive to stay with the team. Others flew in from San Jose, California, and even Miami, turning up at the hotel not quite 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the border crossing.

Showing up is important, some said, because of what they describe as unfair conditions imposed on the team. After the outbreak of war, the Iranian team was forced to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana. Eleven team officials and staff members did not receive U.S. visas. The U.S. has also denied Iran’s requests to arrive two days before matches — and mandated that the team must leave immediately after the game.

“Every little technicality is making it difficult for the team,” says Abbas Eftekhari, who was born in Iran and has lived in the U.S. for more than 40 years. “I think this is going to drain them psychologically and also physically.”

Iran's soccer federation has been vocal about the obstacles, saying it would lodge a complaint with FIFA.

“Football shouldn’t lose its power to politics,” Hedayat Mombeini, secretary-general of the Iran Football Federation, said Friday. He added that the restrictions “are certainly having a negative effect on us, but we are trying to overcome these problems with our Iranian pride.”

Since the team landed on June 7, Ali Eslami has visited the hotel gates nearly every day.

“It’s the best pleasure for me. I wished them the best luck, I told them it’s hard but they’re doing excellent things,” said Eslami, who splits his time between Southern California and Tijuana.

He was there again Friday, waiting for the players to return from afternoon training just blocks away at the Estadio Caliente, home to the Liga MX's Xolos.

“I have been in America for 50 years — this has been the most emotional thing, to see the team that I have not seen in 50 years,” he said.

Some Iran fans fear reprisal from fellow members of the diaspora for supporting the team, insisting they were in Tijuana for the love of soccer and the players, not politics. Eftekhari worries that the mood at Iran’s first match, where fans and protesters clashed, impacted the players.

“As soon as they see that their countrymen have slogans against them, it also has a negative psychological effect on them. But, that’s how things are at this time,” Eftekhari says.

Just over 24 hours until Sunday's noon kickoff, it's not just Iranian fans contributing to the atmosphere. A group of flight attendants from China staying at the hotel embrace the excitement, donning jester hats and waving scarves with red, white and green. And soccer fans from Tijuana are eager to show some local hospitality. Iran has diplomatic ties with Mexico, unlike the U.S., and had sought to move its group-stage matches to the country where it has an embassy.

“We love the Mexican people very much and for us, the best situation is for our games to be held in Mexico,” Abolfazl Pasandideh, the Iranian ambassador to Mexico, said at the time.

Leonardo Ramirez Lopez, a 10-year-old soccer fanatic from Tijuana, clutches his autograph album in hopes he’ll get new signatures.

“It’s a new team that I don’t have experience with how they play,” he says. But Iran is already his third-favorite team, behind Colombia and Argentina.

After more than two hours of waiting, several dozen fans break into cheers as players finally file through the lobby. The squad smiles and waves, stopping for a few autographs. As each player leaves, he kisses a Quran, pressing his forehead against it before boarding the bus to Tijuana's airport.

“Iran, Iran! Whoop, whoop!” fans cry, breaking into song.

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Fans for team Iran wave as players arrive for the World Cup soccer tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Players for Iran participate in a training session ahead of their team's World Cup Group G soccer match against Belgium Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A member of the Iran national soccer team kisses the Quran as he departs from the Tijuana Marriott in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Aoun Angueira)

Children cheer for the Iran national soccer team as they depart from the Tijuana Marriott in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Aoun Angueira)

Iran national soccer team member Alireza Jahanbakhsh touches his forehead to the Quran as he departs from the Tijuana Marriott in Tijuana, Mexico on Saturday June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Aoun Angueira)