Calm as an Undave: the striker saved Germany from failure in the match with Ivory Coast

There is a group stage round at the FIFA World Cup. According to the results of some of his matches, the first participants of the playoffs and the first teams who lost their chances of passing on were determined. Turkey, Tunisia and Haiti have already "secured" their return home. But the German national team got out of the group due to a strong-willed victory over Côte d'Ivoire (2:1) thanks to a double by striker Denise Undava. The hosts of the tournament, Mexico and the USA, did the same. With a high probability, even if they lose in the last round, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, Morocco, the Netherlands, Japan and Spain will enter the playoffs. Meanwhile, the most unexpected participant in the World Cup finals, his debutant, the Curacao team, scored the first point in the history of their performances at the main competition of the planet.

Who went further

Germany's exit from the World Cup group 10 years ago would have been an absolutely routine story. But not in 2026. The fact is that the last time the Germans played in the World Cup playoffs was in 2014. That's when they won the tournament. And this was the peak of the development of German football in its modern form. Then came the crisis.

In 2018, the Bundestim unexpectedly did not withdraw from the group in Russia. This happened again four years later in Qatar. In 2023, Julian Nagelsmann became the head coach of the German national team. A year later, at the European Home Championship, his team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by the future winners of the tournament, the Spaniards (1:2 in extra time). But Nagelsmann was allowed to continue working.

He confidently led Germany to the World Cup, where in the opening match it severely defeated the debutant team of Curaçao (7:1). But the real test of their willingness to solve big problems took place in the second round, when the Germans had to play against a strong national team of Côte d'Ivoire, which had won against Ecuador (1-0) at the start.

The African team managed to impose a fight on the Germans and took the lead in the middle of the first half. But after the break, experienced striker Deniz Undave took the floor. In the 68th minute, he equalized the score, and just before the final whistle he made a double and brought his team victory. Nothing can stop Germany from playing in the 1/16 finals now.

Mexico and the USA will also be there. After the initial success in the game against South Africa (2-0), the Mexicans managed to avoid conceding goals in the meeting with South Korea, which also began the tournament with a strong-willed victory over the Czech Republic (2:1). The Central American team was forced to play the match without their captain, central defender Cesar Montes, who was eliminated out of the blue at the end of the game with the South Africans.

But even without him, Javier Aguirre's team confidently played in defense, and a goal at the beginning of the second half allowed them to win (1-0). Now Mexico is with six points in the playoffs. In the other game of the group, the Czech Republic missed out on a 1-1 victory over South Africa, and now South Korea is close to reaching the 1/16 finals from second place.

The U.S. national team confidently beat Paraguay at the start (3:1). And then, without any problems, she got the better of Australia (2-0). And she also made it to the playoffs. Another host of the World Cup, the Canadian national team, is also close to success. After a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina, she defeated Qatar (6-0). The Maple Leafs share first place with Switzerland, with four points each. The Swiss beat Bosnia (4:1) in the second round. Now the two leaders in the last round will face off in a face-to-face meeting to find out who will come out of first place. The Bosnians and the Qataris will compete for the third place, which can also give a ticket to the 1/16 finals.

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Brazil, after a misfire in the first match with Morocco (1-1), confidently defeated Haiti (3-0). The Moroccans got the better of the Scots (1-0). Now they, along with the Brazilians, are in the lead with four points. Scotland is one point behind them due to a minimal victory in the first round over Haiti (1-0).

In the first round, the Netherlands missed a 2-2 victory over Japan in the end, and then defeated Sweden (5-1). The Scandinavian national team beat Tunisia with a similar score at the start (5:1), which was then also defeated by the Japanese (0:4). Everything is clear in this group with three playoff participants. In the last round, it remains to find out only who will go from which place to the 1/16 finals.

The first losers

Tunisia is still chasing the title of the worst team in this World Cup. Two crushing defeats speak volumes. At the same time, the Football Federation of this country, after the defeat from the Swedes, took a drastic step by firing head coach Sabri Lamushi. Usually, coaches are not fired during such tournaments.

Among the reasons for this castling was not only the result of the first match, but also the accusation of nepotism by the French specialist. The fact is that his son was constantly inside the team, having no position. He constantly traveled to the games with the official Tunisian delegation, took pictures with the coaching staff in official pre-match photos and went on the field with the players during training. And at the end of the game with the Swedes, he got into a fight with one of the fans, and the guards had to stop the brawl.

Lamouche was replaced by another Frenchman, Herve Renard, who led Morocco at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In the first match of the last World Cup against the Saudis, the specialist created a sensation by beating the future world champions of Argentina (1-0).

However, the experience of his new coach did not help Tunisia, and they lost out to Japan, losing their chances of getting out of the group. The same fate befell Turkey, which lost to Australia (0:2) and Paraguay (0:1), and Haiti, which lost to Scotland and Brazil. All three losers have only one match left in the tournament.

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Curacao's first draw

Surprisingly, the national team from a small island in the Caribbean is still in the game and retains its chances of making the playoffs. Although it initially seemed to be the weakest team in the tournament, getting into it was already considered a success. The defeat from Germany (1-7) looked logical for Curaçao, who enjoyed the first goal in the country's history at the World Cup.

But in the second round, Dick Advocaat's team managed to hold a goalless draw with Ecuador (0-0). The hero of the match was Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Rom, who won a point for his team with his saves against the overwhelming playing advantage of the national team from South America. In the event of a victory over Ivory Coast in the last round, Curacao will be out of the group, creating the main sensation of the current World Cup.

Cape Verde also retains a chance to qualify for the playoffs, having secured a goalless draw in the first round with the Spanish European champions (0:0), who, in turn, partially rehabilitated themselves at the end of last week by defeating Saudi Arabia (4:0).