Germany reached the FIFA World Cup knockout phase for the first time since 2014 while the Netherlands edge closer with a 5-1 thrashing of Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Super-sub Deniz Undav scored twice in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory for the Gewrmans over Cote D\u2019Ivoire in Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Franck Kessie turned in from close range to give the Ivorians a 30th-minute lead, but Undav volleyed home midway through the second half before snatching an injury-time winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Germany almost carved out the perfect start when Kai Havertz won a header from kick-off and fired the loose ball just over the crossbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joshua Kimmich then found the frontman with a pinpoint cross, but his low header was beaten away by Yahia Fofana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fofana was beaten shortly after when Aleksandar Pavlovic headed home a corner from the right, only for the referee to blow after the Bayern Munich midfielder was adjudged to have led with an elbow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cote D\u2019Ivoire hung in though, and sucker-punched the four-time champions down the other end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ever-dangerous Yan Diomande burst down the left and put in a low cross which fell to the feet of Amad Diallo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Nathaniel Brown made a block, he couldn’t prevent Kessie from tucking home the rebound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Africans held their own at the start of the second half, forcing Julian Nagelsmann to shuffle his pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called upon Nadiem Amiri and Undav on the hour and just eight minutes later the former sent an inch-perfect cross for the latter to head in the leveller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fae turned to his bench and was almost handsomely rewarded himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nicholas Pepe broke down the right, and as Evann Guessand dragged away the German defence, Simon Adingra was left all alone on the left side of the box. However, a loose touch saw him crowded out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That chance proved to be crucial as, four minutes into stoppage time, Lukas Nmecha slid a clever ball through to Undav, who turned and finished with aplomb to break Cote D\u2019Ivoire hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cody Gakpo and Brian Brobbey both scored twice as the rampant Netherlands thrashed Sweden 5-1 in Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The big win in front of nearly 69,000 put the delighted Dutch on the cusp of the knockout rounds and gave them liftoff after being held by Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ronald Koeman’s side top Group F with four points from two games, ahead of Sweden on three, Japan (one) and Tunisia (none).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch, twice pegged back in a lively 2-2 draw with Japan to start their title bid, made the brighter start in front of their orange-clad fans and King Willem-Alexander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brobbey, who came in for Summerville despite the winger scoring against Japan, started and finished the first goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was made in the Premier League, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Gakpo all involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brobbey exchanged passes with Gakpo, before the Anfield attacker crossed in low from the left for his team-mate to stab in from close range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sweden, who thrashed Tunisia 5-1 in their first game, could not handle Brobbey’s muscular presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up front the much-vaunted attack of Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres of Arsenal were feeding on scraps for Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twelve minutes after his opener Brobbey made it 2-0 when a deflected Denzel Dumfries cross from the right fell perfectly into his path and he toe-poked past Kristoffer Nordfeldt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sweden’s English coach Graham Potter was in deep discussions with his backroom staff as the game threatened to run away from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the unpopular hydration break Potter made a beeline for left-sided defender Gabriel Gudmundsson of Leeds United, who was being overrun by the flying Dumfries and Donyell Malen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sweden then had their best chance, Gyokeres crossing for an unmarked Yasin Ayari who completely miscontrolled the ball with his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gyokeres was next to fluff a good chance, failing to make proper contact after being played in by the largely anonymous Isak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gyokeres and Ayari twice both had further sights of goal, only to be denied by the increasingly overworked Verbruggen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Netherlands were hanging on by end of the half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gakpo scored a lovely fourth on 54 minutes, turning inside his defender before firing low into the bottom corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nottingham Forest winger Elanga pulled one back five minutes later when he raced clear of the Dutch defence and rattled the ball past Verbruggen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
West Ham’s Summerville made it five in the dying minutes with his second goal in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sweden face Japan next while the Netherlands play Tunisia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Germany reached the FIFA World Cup knockout phase for the first time since 2014 while the Netherlands edge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430],"tags":[276,63],"class_list":["post-14038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-fifa","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t