Ivory Coast grab surprise lead against Germany

Ivory Coast took a shock 1-0 lead against Germany in their World Cup Group E match in Toronto on Saturday, June 21, with Franck Kessie scoring against the run of play in the 30th minute.

The breakthrough came when Diomande, who had been a constant threat down the left flank, beat his man before delivering a pass across the face of goal. Diallo was in prime position, but Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer did well to block his initial shot. The ball then fell to Kessie on the right side, who blasted it into the bottom-left corner.

Germany, who had started with an unchanged lineup from their 7-1 victory over Curacao, had dominated possession and pressed high but were caught out by the Ivorian counter-attack.

Germany's starting XI: Manuel Neuer; Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck, Nathaniel Brown; Alexander Pavlovic, Felix Nmecha; Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz; Kai Havertz.

Ivory Coast's starting XI: Yahia Fofana; Wilfried Singo, Odilon Kossounou, Emmanuel Agbadou, Ghislain Konan; Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare; Christ Inao Olai, Yann Diomande, Amad Diallo; Ange-Yoan Bonny.