Germany and Ivory Coast square off in Toronto on Saturday for control of Group E after both winning their opening games of the 2026 World Cup. The winner is guaranteed a place in the knockout stage, which the Germans have failed to reach since lifting their fourth trophy in 2014. Follow our live, minute-by-minute match commentary.
The starting XIs
Germany keep their lineup unchanged, with Kai Havertz again up front, while Amad Diallo joins the Ivory Coast attack.
Germany (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer – Jonathan Tah, Joshua Kimmich, Nico Schlotterbeck, Nathaniel Brown – Aleksandar Pavlovic, Felix Nmecha – Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Leroy Sane – Kai Havertz
Ivory Coast’s wingers are creating all sorts of trouble down the left flank.
The ball is whipped into the box, headed away, and then Singo pummels a shot on the rebound but a German defender is in the way.
Chance for Havertz!
Kimmich finds Havertz alone in the box, the header is accurate but lacks power, and the keeper punches the ball away.
High pressing and plenty of energy from both teams. This could be a cracker of a game.
Ivory Coast look to counter
Diomande was grimacing as the game got under way but he now races down the right flank in what looks like a promising counter, but the offside flag goes up.
Progressing to the knockout round would be a relief for the four-time world champions, who have endured a miserable run since their last title in Brazil.
Long the most reliable squad in European football, the Mannschaft astonishingly failed to qualify from the group stage at the last two tournaments.
Ivory Coast, meanwhile, missed out on both those tournaments, but have since won an Africa Cup of Nations title, in 2023.
Ivorians target historic first
The Elephants of Ivory Coast are gunning for their first ever qualification to the knockouts stage of a World Cup.
They will brimming with confidence after notably clinching a comeback win over France in a warm-up game just days before the tournament.
A 5-1 rout in today’s first game has given the Dutch quite the World Cup liftoff.
Neuer’s 2009 blunder
The two teams did, however, meet in a 2009 friendly in Gelsenkirchen that saw Manuel Neuer — already the German keeper 17 years ago — hand a comical goal to the Ivorians.
That game ended 2-2.
Welcome to our liveblog
Germany take on Ivory Coast at the temporarily rebranded Toronto Stadium in just over an hour, both aiming to qualify for the knockout stage with a game in hand – as have co-hosts the United States and Mexico.
Germany thrashed debutants Curacao 7-1 in their opener, while Ivory Coast battled to a 1-0 win over in-form Ecuador. Astonishingly, they have never met before in a competitive match.
