World Cup 2026 Day 10: Group E Recap

Day 10 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 featured action from Group E, which, after Saturday's results, is shaping up for an intriguing final day of play on June 25th and may leave the group looking much different than most would have predicted coming into the tournament. 

General view inside the stadium as the teams line up with young mascots during the national anthems before the match

Piroschka Van De Wouw

World Cup Group E - Matchday 2

Germany 2 - 1 Côte d'Ivoire

Germany and Côte d'Ivoire, who both claimed victory in their opening matches of the World Cup, got Group E play started on Saturday evening in Toronto, both looking to solidify their place in the Knockout round with a top-2 finish in the group.  

It was Les Éléphants who got on the board first at Toronto Stadium.  In the 30th minute, 19-year-old Yan Diomande, whose Man of the Match performance led Côte d'Ivoire to victory over Ecuador in Philadelphia last weekend, got the play started down the left wing and played a dangerous ball into the middle that had Germany's backline scrambling to cover. 

Amad Diallo, who scored the game-winner against Ecuador in the opening match, had his attempt on net blocked by Nathaniel Brown, but the rebound fell directly to Franck Kessié, who sent the ball into the back of the net with his first touch to give Côte d'Ivoire a 1-0 lead. 

Ivory Coast's Franck Kessie celebrates scoring their first goal

KEVIN SOUSA

Kai Havertz thought he leveled things for Germany in the 39^th minute, but the goal was waived off for a foul in the build-up. Florian Firtz received the ball inside the box with an opportunity to score after good link-up play from the Germans in extra-time of the first half, but his attempt on net did nothing to trouble Yahia Fofana in the net. 

Early in the 2^nd half, Côte d'Ivoire had a few chances to double their lead, but each time the final touch let Les Éléphants down. Franck Kessié, who scored the opener in the first half, had two chances inside the box closed down by German defenders before getting a quality shot off. Amad Diallo played a nice ball into the feet of Christ Inao Oulaï arriving inside the box, but his shot attempt sailed over the bar, keeping Côte d'Ivoire's advantage at 1-0. 

Germany took advantage of Côte d'Ivoire's missed chances in the 68^th minute and got themselves level courtesy of Deniz Undav.  Nadiem Amiri played a ball into the penalty area from the right side, which found Undav at the top of the 6-yard box for a first-touch volley into the top of the net to get Germany back in the game.

Germany's Deniz Undav scores their second goal

Piroschka Van De Wouw

In the 88th minute, Côte d'Ivoire got a golden opportunity to win the game and take all 3 points from Germany when Nicolas Pépé slid a pass across the top of the box to Simon Adingra with only the keeper to beat, but his first touch took him off stride, and the chance for Les Éléphants to take the lead went wasted. 

A casual fan would hope that wasn't Côte d'Ivoire's last chance, or at the very least that they'd be able to hold on for the draw against the bigger side, Germany.  But in the 94^th minute, with time winding down, Felix Nmecha played a ball into Deniz Undav at the top of the box, splitting the Côte d'Ivoire defenders and setting Undav up with an opportunity to claim the winner, and Undav made no mistake with the chance. 

The goal and the win for Germany means they'll be heading to the Knockout round of the World Cup for the first time since they lifted the trophy in 2014. Côte d'Ivoire sits in second place in Group E with 3 points, and will finish off the group stage against Curacao. 

Curaçao 0 - 0 Ecuador 

General view inside the stadium before the match

Kai Pfaffenbach

Curaçao and Ecuador, two teams that saw their opening matches of the 2026 World Cup end in defeat, closed out Group E action on Saturday night in one of the more entertaining 0-0 draws you’ll see. 

It was the Eloy Room show in Kansas City, with the former MLS and current USL goalkeeper making a historic 15 saves against Ecuador, the most ever in a World Cup match that didn’t feature extra time.  

Curacao's Eloy Room in action as he makes a save from Ecuador's Gonzalo Plata

Kai Pfaffenbach

The 37-year-old goalkeeper was called upon early and often, with his first save coming in the 3rd minute of the game on a breakaway opportunity for Enner Valencia. Room would be needed again in the 20th minute when a ball was sent across the face of the goal for Valencia, but Room was in position and shrugged away the scoring opportunity. 

The 2nd half was more of the same. Gonzalo Plata got an opportunity to break the deadlock from a corner kick in the  59th minute, but his header on the net was pushed away by Room. Valencia had another couple of opportunities from close range, but he was again denied in both the 61st and 65th minutes by Room. Room was needed again in the 66th minute when a corner kick which was headed on frame by Kevin Rodriguez, but the Curacao keeper was there and prepared for the task. 

Ecuador's Pedro Vite looks dejected after the match

Issei Kato

All in all, it took 15 saves from Eloy Room to secure a 0-0 draw in Kansas City on Saturday night, Curaçao’s first-ever point at the FIFA World Cup. While technically still at the bottom of Group E, Curaçao’s knockout round hopes are still alive heading into their final group stage match against Côte d'Ivoire in Philadelphia. 

Ecuador sits in 3rd place in Group E with a draw, a loss, and zero goals scored at the World Cup since putting a jersey on the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia.  La Tri's loss to Côte d'Ivoire in the opening match in Philadelphia snapped a nearly 2-year unbeaten streak and leaves Ecuador in position for an earlier-than-anticipated exit from the world stage unless Ecuador can pull out a win against Germany on the final day of group play on June 25th. 

Day 10, Group E, Round-up:

Day 11 at the 2026 World Cup