TORONTO — Deniz Undav scored twice after being subbed on in the second half as Germany defeated Ivory Coast, 2-1, on Saturday and clinched a spot in the knockout phase at the World Cup.
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.
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 at the 68th minute. Amiri and Undav had subbed on eight minutes earlier.
Four-time champion Germany has come back from disappointing group stage exits in 2018 and 2022, whereas Ivory Coast is 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.
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.
Netherlands 5, Sweden 1 — Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece to power Netherlands to bounce back after a disappointing draw in its opener and move atop the Group F standings.
Brobbey’s goals came in the first half, helping the Netherlands get off to a great start and roll to the big win after playing Japan to a 2-2 draw Sunday.
The victory gives Netherlands a group-leading four points. Sweden has three points, with Japan and Tunisia scheduled to play later Saturday.
Gakpo, who also had an assist, extended the lead to 3-0 just after halftime, scoring in the 47th minute off a cross from Denzel Dumfries. He matched Brobbey when he scored on a right-footed shot from the left box in the 54th minute.
Sweden couldn’t build on its strong performance in a 5-1 walloping of Tunisia in its first match. The loss to the Dutch was its biggest World Cup defeat since losing 7-1 to Brazil in 1950.
The Dutch game plan to play out wide to open up Sweden and cross to Brobbey worked perfectly early. He put the Netherlands on top in the fifth minute when Gakpo crossed into the middle of the box, and Brobbey one-timed it with his right foot before tumbling forward to the grass.
His second goal came when he took a cross from Dumfries while sliding and just got his right foot on the ball, scoring inside the far post in the 17th minute.
Anthony Elanga’s left-footed goal cut the lead to 4-1 in the 59th minute and allowed Sweden to avoid the shutout.
Sweden had plenty of chances to score before that, but Netherlands’ goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was brilliant in the first half with four saves.
Sweden appeared to have cut the lead to 2-1 on a header by Gustaf Lagerbielke in the 44th minute, but he was ruled offside. Lagerbielke is a baron from a noble family in Sweden. His father and grandfather are counts.
But he wasn’t the only royalty in the stadium Saturday as the Netherlands had two very special guests cheering them on with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima watching from a luxury suite.
The crowd of 68,777 was largely made up of fans of the Netherlands, many of whom made their Oranje Fanwalk 21/2 miles from Rice University to Houston Stadium on Saturday morning.
Crysencio Summerville, who assisted on Gakpo’s second goal, tacked on a goal for Netherlands in the 89th minute and celebrated with NBA star Steph Curry’s “night night” gesture.
Sweden finishes group play Thursday night against Japan at Dallas Stadium, and Netherlands meets Tunisia that night in Kansas City.
Curacao 0, Ecuador 0 — Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves against a relentless Ecuador attack, allowing The Blue Wave to earn a draw against the heavily favored La Tri and earn the tiny island nation its first-ever World Cup point.
The outcome also allowed Germany, which beat Ivory Coast earlier in the day, to clinch Group E.
The 37-year-old Room, whose shutout of Jamaica last November sent Curacao to its first World Cup, bounced back from a 7-1 loss to Germany with one of the finest performances by a goalkeeper in World Cup history. His save total was one shy of the record — since saves became an official stat in 1966 — of 16 set by Tim Howard of the U.S. against Belgium on July 1, 2014.
The draw doesn’t eliminate either team from knockout play, but it put Ecuador in dire shape going into its group finale. Those matches take place Thursday with Curacao facing Ivory Coast in Philadelphia and Ecuador playing Germany in New York.
Ecuador certainly had a home-field advantage Saturday night at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. Its fanbase, dressed like its players in bright yellow shirts, filled the stadium to the brim, making it look like a convention of Minions. There was only a couple of small pockets of blue-clad Curacao fans in a stadium whose capacity could house half of its island citizenry.