Germany vs Ivory Coast live: World Cup knockouts in sight as Group E favourites face off

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 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.