PREVIEW: Germany look to continue strong start against Ivory Coast in Toronto | OneFootball

Germany face Ivory Coast at the Toronto Stadium looking for consecutive group stage victories in Group E and vanquish any chance of another exit at this stage of the World Cup finals.

The Germans head into the match on the back of a dominant 7-1 win over World Cup debutants Curaçao at the Houston Stadium last Sunday, which was the biggest victory recorded in match day one.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side are unbeaten in their last ten matches across all competitions, a run that stretches back to September 2025, and have also scored two or more goals in nine of those matches.

Germany have looked vulnerable in defence despite their strong form, conceding in four of their last five matches, but this was of no concern last time out as they look to repeat their dominance against the Ivory Coast.

Since beating Argentina 1-0 in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil, however, the Germans have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven World Cup matches.

Germany last faced Ivory Coast in November 2009, with Lukas Podolski scoring twice, including a dramatic 90th-minute equalizer in an entertaining 2-2 draw.

The four-time world champions have lost just once against African opposition at the World Cup, suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to Algeria in their opening group-stage match at the 1982 tournament in Spain.

The past two tournaments were ones to forget for Germany as they crashed out in both Russia in 2018 and Qatar’s tournament four years ago without reaching the knockout stages.

But they will put themselves in pole position to qualify for the round of 32 with a victory, and depending on the result of Ecuador’s meeting with Curaçao could make it out of the group for the first time in three tournaments as group winners.

The Ivory Coast head into the clash on the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Ecuador last Monday, secured by a late winner in their opening Group E match.

The African side are one of only two nations from the continent alongside Ghana to win their opening group-stage match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Emerse Faé’s side are aiming to secure a fifth consecutive victory across all competitions when they face Germany, a run that includes an impressive 2-1 win over France in a pre-World Cup friendly earlier this month.

Ivory Coast are in a strong position to reach the knockout stages for the first time in their history, with at least one point from their remaining two matches likely enough to secure a top three finish in Group E.

Sitting 30th in the FIFA World Rankings and having won just one of their previous World Cup matches against European opposition, alongside one draw, Ivory Coast are underdogs heading into the clash but have winning momentum with them.

The match will kick off at 21:00 (BST) and will be broadcast on ITV 1 and streamed on ITVX, featuring guest pundit Gary Lineker who participates in his first live sport broadcast since leaving Match of the Day 13 months ago.

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