Key events<\/p>\n
49 mins: A promising move from Germany<\/a> sees Brown drive towards the box before slipping Musiala in. The Bayern man cuts inside and shoots but it is deflected wide.<\/p>\n Rodri emails: \u201cThe commentator in Uruguayan TV placed part of the blame for the goal on Nagelsmann, arguing that he made Germany play for too long with \u201cten and a half men\u201d by not substituting Schlotterbeck.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 47 mins: Half the pitch is covered in shade. Down the shadowy right-hand side, Diallo bursts forward but his pass inside is imprecise and cleared.<\/p>\n Almost chaos at the back for Germany<\/a> as Tah jabs a backpass to Neuer who just about clears a split second before an orange shirt chases him down.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Second half<\/p>\n Here we go again!<\/p>\n Rudiger is on for Schlotterbeck.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rocco Columbus emails: \u201cYou can complain about hydration breaks, or you can complain about the extreme heat like the Guardian just did yesterday (https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2026\/jun\/19\/world-cup-matches-severe-heat-level-analysis<\/a>), but you can\u2019t complain about both.\u201d<\/p>\n No, you can do both. Of course they are sensible in extreme heat, not when it is 22C. That\u2019s just pleasant weather.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time reading.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Half time: Germany 0-1 Cote d’Ivoire<\/p>\n It\u2019s been an even and entertaining opening 45 minutes but the African side have the edge thanks to a clinical finish from Kessie. This game is a long way from over.<\/p>\n Fans watching the match from kayaks at Olympic Island in Toronto look on as Franck Kessie scores the opener. Photograph: Carlos Osorio\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.54 EDT<\/p>\n 45+4 mins: It does feel like if Germany<\/a> are to get back into this that Nmecha will be very important. He is a silky player.<\/p>\n Musiala goes down in the vicinity of the box after a Diallo challenge. The referee gives nothing and rightly so.<\/p>\n Down the other end, Bonny outmuscles Schlotterbeck but the defender does well to get back at him and gives away a corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45+2 mins: Germany<\/a> take a short corner without an end plan. Kimmich belatedly chips the ball into the box but it is easily cleared. There is a bit more shadow play after that but no threat.<\/p>\n Richard says: \u201cIt\u2019s not a hydration break.<\/p>\n Call it what it is.<\/p>\n Time waster break – in which everyone should get a yellow card.<\/p>\n Tactical up date break.<\/p>\n Momentum break.<\/p>\n Advert break.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 20 degrees down here in New Zealand and I don\u2019t yet need rehydrating. We never had them at Wigan.<\/p>\n The various new rules have improved the game, but this contrived break defffo doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 mins: Seven minutes added on.<\/p>\n K\u00e1ri Tulinius writes: \u201cI\u2019ve been telling anyone who\u2019ll listen that C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire are being underestimated and could go deep. But I might be hoisted by my own petard, because if they win their group they\u2019ll be on a collision course with France in the round of 16. Even I, at my most hopeful on the Elephants behalf, don\u2019t expect them to beat this French side.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43 mins: A Germany<\/a> corner creates chaos in the box with some erratic pinballing before it is cleared.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 mins: Kimmich chips a free-kick into the box, it bounces down but Cote d\u2019Ivoire win the second ball and punt clear.<\/p>\n Wirtz then gets a fine chance just inside the box but his first touch is poor and his shot is deflected wide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 39 mins: NO GOAL! The referee witnesses Musiala trip Kossounou on the edge of the box, before the ball runs free and eventually Havertz slams home. The whistle is then blown and the goal ruled out. VAR checks but there is no reason to overturn it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still not happening for Germany in this first half. Photograph: Joosep Martinson\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.46 EDT<\/p>\n 38 mins: The clouds ensure the pitch is covered in shade now. I wouldn\u2019t bother with the second hydration break later, lads.<\/p>\n Germany are knocking the ball around but struggling to break through the aggressive press. Cote d\u2019Ivoire win the ball back on the halfway and move forward at speed, culminating with a tame Bonny shot.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 mins: To sum up the current malaise Germany<\/a> find themselves in, Schlotterbeck has just pinged a 60-yard pass straight out for a goal kick. There was no one in white within an acre of where the ball landed. Better luck next time, mate.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 mins: The goal has, understandably, given Cote d\u2019Ivoire a lift. They are looking slicker and more confident.<\/p>\n FB gets in touch: \u201cA few observations from this Irish viewer from my couch on the Lower East Side:<\/p>\n – these second group games have been characterised by far more dribbling and taking defenders on than the cagey triangular passing in the opening fixtures for each team<\/p>\n – you could nearly set your watch by the first water break and a keeper injury (or \u201cinjury\u201d) \u2014 there seems to be an unwillingness for refs to deal with it and I\u2019ve seen the water whistle blown more than once in games to paper over awkward decision-making<\/p>\n – I see C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire nicking one here but not sure if they\u2019ll be able to hold off a predictable German onslaught \u2014 the Germans look very good, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n Oops! I wrote that (#3) seconds ago. Let\u2019s see if it comes true. Allez Les \u00c9l\u00e9phants!!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 32 mins: German need to adapt and potential help out Kimmich at right-back.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n GOAL! Diomande does superbly well on the left and flashes a cross into the six-yard box. Diallo should score but Brown does well to block his point blank shot, only for the rebound to fall to Kessie, who forces the ball home.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>GOAL! Germany 0-1 Cote d’Ivoire (Kessie, 30)<\/p>\n The captain squeezes the ball home from close range.<\/p>\n Franck Kessi\u00e9 scores for C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire! Photograph: Stephanie Scarbrough\/AP Photograph: Kevin Sousa\/IMAGN IMAGES\/Reuters Photograph: Megan Briggs\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.37 EDT<\/p>\n 29 mins: Rudiger is getting some instructions from Nagelsmann. One must assume he is coming on for Schlotterbeck.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 mins: I criticise the hydration break but it did give me time to unplug the car.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 25 mins: HYDRATION BREAK! It is 22C after all. Attendees rightly boo.<\/p>\n Speaking of water breaks \u2026 you have three minutes to read this.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 mins: NO GOAL! The resulting corner is sent to the back post where Pavlovic challenges the goalkeeper. The German beats Fofana to it, nodding home but the referee rules it out. I would argue it as a bit soft but the goalkeeper always gets those.<\/p>\n Aleksandar Pavlovic has the ball in the back of the net but it\u2019s a foul on Fofana. Photograph: John E Sokolowski\/IMAGN IMAGES\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.27 EDT<\/p>\n 21 mins: Germany<\/a> are ramping things up, passing the ball with greater pace and smoothness to cause the Ivorians problems. Nmecha takes a punt from 25 yards which is deflected over, rippling the roof of the net.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 20 mins: A slick German move ends with Brown overhitting a through ball for Havertz, allowing Fofana to come and collect.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 18 mins: Brown drives down the left, he looks up and slides the ball to the edge of the box but the pass is not perfect and is intercepted.<\/p>\n Moments later Musiala receives the ball 20 yards from goal, he gets it out of his feet and takes aim for the bottom corner but the shot flashes inches wide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 mins: Schlotterbeck gets back up and wanders off for further treatment on his ankle. After his enforced one-minute absence, he is back with us.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 14 mins: Diomande has a great chance to drive into the box on the left but takes a bad touch and runs the ball out of play.<\/p>\n Schlotterbeck\u2019s race is run. He is sat down and awaiting a replacement.<\/p>\n Nico Schlotterbeck looks in some discomfort. Photograph: Kevin Sousa\/IMAGN IMAGES\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.17 EDT<\/p>\n 12 mins: Musiala is taken down by Singo on the halfway line. I assume the Bayern man will get plenty of close attention.<\/p>\n Schlotterbeck is struggling and may need to come off very soon.<\/p>\n Cote d\u2019Ivoire launch a quick attack which concludes with Singo pummelling a shot into a German defender.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 10 mins: Kimmich lifts in a cross for Havertz to attack, flicking his neck muscles to direct the ball towards the bottom corner but Fofana gets down quickly to save smartly.<\/p>\n Blair Stewart emails: \u201cSeeing as how Nagelsmann managed to go through three wardrobe changes for the last match as if he\u2019s late stage Elvis or Lady Gaga playing the strip in Las Vegas, what can we expect today during the \u201chydration breaks\u201d?<\/p>\n \u201cFeather boas? A Zoot Suit? Spaceman suit?<\/p>\n \u201cYour thoughts please and thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n Fedora or nothing.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 8 mins: Cote d\u2019Ivoire are putting the Germans under pressure on the ball, and vice versa. Fofana is forced into a mistake at the back, panicking amid the press, basically passing the ball out to the left to avoid being the victim of a pickpocket on his own line.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6 mins: Diomande has admitted to being turned down by Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Rangers and Olympiakos after having trials with the clubs. They may feel a little silly now.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 4 mins: Germany<\/a> are enjoying all the possession but when they lose it Cote d\u2019Ivoire are primed to bounce. Their chance to counter sees Diomande get down the left and put in a cross from the byline but the Germans scramble it away. It would seem Diomande is fine.<\/p>\n Yan Diomande is caught by Joshua Kimmich. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.08 EDT<\/p>\n 2 mins: Diomande is hobbling around with a grimace on his face. Not ideal \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 mins: Germany<\/a> lump it up immediately, looking to put the Ivorians under pressure. The ball drops to Havertz inside the box but he spanks it over after 15 seconds.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Kick off<\/p>\n Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n They\u2019ve made it out to the pitch very early, so surely this match will kick off on time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here comes the teams, filing out behind their respective flags.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The players are heading to the tunnel \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEither at the start of this season or the end of last there was a piece on the website where various Guardian football writers suggested innovations they would like to see,\u201d writes David Wall. \u201cOne suggestion was for teams to switch tactics, or formations, or player positions during a match in a pre-planned way. For instance, a team might start in a 4-4-2 formation then at a pre-planned minute or on a signal from the manager, they would switch to 4-2-3-1, for 10 minutes, then switch back or to another formation. Or they might start in a low defensive position, looking to attack on the break, then similarly switch suddenly to an intensive pressing approach for a period, and so on. The thought was that the surprise would disrupt the patterns that the opponent had establish and in that time before they worked out what the new shape and approach was, and how to defend against it, you could score a goal or two (and we saw in England\u2019s match against Croatia how many chances you can make in a very short period of time, when they could easily have scored 3 or 4 in the ten minutes after half time). We\u2019ve already seen how the hydration breaks have allowed managers to make changes to shift the momentum if they\u2019re struggling at that point. But I wonder if, by the later stages of the tournament, one of the more strategic managers will start using the hydration breaks for pre-planned tactical switches rather than merely reactive ones. And if they do, will they credit The Guardian for the idea?\u201d<\/p>\n Sounds very Wilson.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Amrick emails: \u201cIs it just me or does Gary Neville look a little put out (dare I say jealous) of the OG original Gary Lineker?\u201d<\/p>\n Who wouldn\u2019t?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Manuel Neuer is back between the sticks for Germany<\/a> after coming out of international retirement aged 40. I can offer some insight that he prepared for the tournament with a holiday in Mallorca.<\/p>\n Manuel Neuer<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n It feels like a big summer and season ahead for Amad Diallo. He has done reasonably well for Manchester United but I still debate if he can take them forward in the Champions League. He needs to show he can move up a couple of levels and thriving at a World Cup<\/a> would help that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Andrew Goudie emails: \u201cLineker is all well and good, but Duncan Ferguson is the break-out pundit of the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n I did interview Big Dunc during his spell at Forest Green, so I am not surprised his personality has shone in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Nick Ames was on hand to watch Netherlands give Sweden a bit of a shooing.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lineker, however, is happy to have a pop at the pricing, taking aim at Fifa. <\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Bullingham is on ITV and bottles a question on the cost of tickets at this World Cup<\/a> and how it has priced out many England fans. A rather cowardly response in my opinion.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Gary Lineker is on ITV. What a world we live in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Starting lineups<\/p>\n Germany (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown; Nmecha, Pavlovic; Sane, Musiala, Wirtz; Havertz<\/p>\n Subs: Amiri, Anton, Baumann, Beier, Goretzka, Gross, Leweling, Nubel, Ouedraogo, Raum, R\u00fcdiger, Stiller, Thiaw, Undav<\/p>\n Cote D\u2019Ivoire (4-4-2): Y Fofana; Singo, Kossounou, Agbadou, Konan; Diallo, Kessie, Sangare, Yan Diomande; Bonny, Oulai<\/p>\n Subs: Adringra, Diakite, O Diomande, Doue, S Fofana, Guessand, Guiagon, Kone, Lafont, Ndicka, Operi, Pepe, Seri, Toure, Wahi<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.05 EDT<\/p>\n Some cracking larks in the Germany<\/a> training camp where they have come face-to-face with venomous snakes in North Carolina.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw a snake yesterday, we were told it was venomous. If you get bitten, you have to go to the hospital,\u201d the midfielder Joshua Kimmich said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll die, but it\u2019s certainly dangerous. I have the feeling that if you step on a snake like that, it can end badly.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re trying to keep our distance from animals here. I have respect for the people here. In Germany, I have the feeling there aren\u2019t so many dangerous animals.\u201d<\/p>\n Joshua Kimmich on the lookout for snakes. Photograph: Alexander Hassenstein\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Where are the Germans? Marching through Toronto it transpires and they really do care.<\/p>\n Germany fans march towards the stadium. Photograph: Jon Blacker\/The Canadian Press\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n The Dutch lads are doing the business against Sweden to make a certain Mr Messi worried. Check out the Golden Boot standings.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Your daily England news.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n There are no shortage of whispers around Yan Diomande\u2019s future and how much it will cost Liverpool to sign him for RB Leipzig. The German club may hope he prospers tonight and they can shuck a few more quick onto the price tag.<\/p>\n Yan Diomande<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Jamal Musiala was good against Curacao as a No 10. I will be interested to see how he copes against the Ivorians.<\/p>\n Jamal Musiala<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n While you\u2019re waiting for this one, join John Brewin for Netherlands v Sweden.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Pre-match reading.<\/p>\n