Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
WHO: Germany vs Ivory Coast
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group E games
That: Toronto Stadium, Toronto, Canada
When: Saturday, 4pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: Continue with all changes Al Jazeera Sports
One of the most exciting matches in the second round of the World Cup 2026 sees four champions. Germany meet the talented Ivory Coast outfit in Toronto on Saturday evening.
Recommended Articles
list of 4 itemsend of series
Both teams started their Group E campaign well, in different ways, as did Die Mannschaft they pulled off an early scare against Curacao to win 7-1when The Elephants in the end scored Ecuador 1-0 with the last goalthe South Americans hit the woodwork three times.
Germany under the radar?
After disappointing exits in 2018 and 2022, Germany entered the tournament a little under the radar, where the perennial power was chosen by itself. seventh favorites to lift their fifth World Cup trophy.
While he turned on his style for young stars like Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz to pile on the goals against Curacao – the smallest country in terms of size and population that participated in the World Cup – and the goals have gone in 10 straight wins, this will be a very tough test.
Curacao caused the German defense to have several problems, especially in the opening half hour, and it is their most important part of the central defense of Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck, playing in front of the 40-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who will ultimately decide how the Germans will go in this tournament.
Arsenal striker Kai Havertz continued his recent run of goals for club and country with Germany twice in the opening game, but will find Ivory Coast’s defense more difficult than Curacao’s backline.
By winning their first group stage, Germany did what they couldn’t do in 2018 and 2022 and look set to progress to the knockout stage since the 2014 World Cup final. Whether they advance as group winners, or simply slip through the cracks, could be the result in Toronto.
A win against the Ivory Coast would see them into the round of 32 and would be enough to top Group E if Ecuador fail to beat Curacao four hours later in Kansas City.
In some cases, even with the victory of Germany against the Ivory Coast, Ecuador – if they can defeat Curacao and then the Germans in the end of the group on Thursday – will make things very interesting, with the possibility of three groups – Germany, Ivory Coast and Ecuador – locked on six points and tiebreakers are needed to separate them.
It is important because the team that finishes first will play the third, while the last will face the team that finishes second in the group that includes France, Norway, Senegal and Iraq, and the team that should finish third will face the winner of the groups, either England or Mexico.
An important game where Ivory Coast are looking for glory
The Elephants may have been lucky, but ending Ecuador’s 19-game unbeaten run in almost two years in their opening match caught the attention of their fans and will be looking forward to it.
Amad Diallo’s last-minute winner ensured Ivory Coast have now won all four of their World Cup qualifiers, and could reach the knockout stages for the first time, should they beat Germany.
Instead, they could top Group E if they beat Die Mannschaft and Ecuador fail to beat Curacao in their other group game on Saturday evening.
A draw against Germany will make for an interesting group final on Thursday night, as it could leave all three teams with a chance to reach the finals, while Ivory Coast must beat Curacao by more than six goals to ensure victory on goals.
How does the group stage work?
Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Curacao are in Group E.
They will play each other once in the first round of the tournament. The top two teams from all 12 groups – along with the eight third-placed teams – will advance to the next stage, the round of 32, which has been introduced for the first time at the World Cup.
Head to head
This will be the second meeting between Germany and Ivory Coast.
The previous game was a friendly in November 2009, when Lukas Podolski scored twice, including the last goal in a 2-2 draw.
Control form:
(Last five matches, most recent matches first)
Germany: WWWW
Ivory Coast: WWWWL
Germany’s big win over Curacao last Sunday means they have won 10 straight games since September 2025 and have scored two or more goals in nine games.
However, they have struggled at the other end of the pitch, scoring in seven consecutive World Cup games, their longest run since 1970, and their last clean sheet came in the 2014 final against Argentina in Brazil.
Ivory Coast will be looking for a fifth straight win, with confidence boosted after last Sunday’s win over Ecuador, which followed their 2-1 win over world number three France in the final warm-up match in Paris on June 4.
Their last defeat came in the AFCON quarterfinal against Egypt in January.
Group news: Germany
Coach Julian Nagelsmann may keep faith with the same XI that eventually put Curacao to the sword, but if he does, it could be a challenge for Deniz Undav.
The Stuttgart international came off the bench to replace Jamal Musiala with 26 minutes left to come on and score and provide two assists as Germany’s biggest win since the 2014 semifinal against Brazil. The versatile Undav has scored seven times and added four assists in just 10 games for Die Mannschaft.
Team news: Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae has to make many decisions.
Elye Wahi started the win for Ecuador up front before being replaced on the hour by Ange-Yoan Bonny.
He was initially barred from entering Canada for the Games due to visa issues. He was linked with a match-fixing scandal while playing for Nice in Ligue 1 last month, but has said so since they were allowed to travel and can stay with them.
Bonny and those who were not used in the first game, Oumar Diakite and Evann Guessand, and other attacking options.
Diallo came off the bench to win, and the Manchester United midfielder is pushing to start, which could mean a replacement for young star Yan Diomande, who stole the show on the right against Ecuador and will be eager to show his country where he plays for RB Leipzig.
Germany predicted XI:
Neuer (goalkeeper); Kimmich, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown; Pavlovic, Nmecha; Sane, Musiala, Wirtz; Havertz.
Ivory Coast predicted XI:
Y. Fofana (goalkeeper); Doue, Singo, Agbadou, Konan; Diallo, Kessie, S. Fofana, Diomande; Bonny, Touré.
You can follow Al Jazeera’s dedicated content FIFA World Cup 2026 a page with the latest news, match updates and commentary and find out the standings of the team, real-time game results and schedules.
