🇩🇪 Germany vs 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast

Germany were knocked out in the group stage in both 2018 and 2022. For the nation that reached four finals between 2002 and 2014, this is considered a genuine collapse — the German equivalent of a national crisis. This tournament is their attempt to prove they've fixed it.

Their squad is built around Florian Wirtz, 22, who plays for Bayer Leverkusen and is considered one of the best players in Europe right now. If Germany do well, he'll be the name everyone's talking about. If they go out in the group stage again, he'll be the answer to a pub quiz question.

Germany are in Group E with Curaçao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador. They should get through. Getting knocked out again would trigger a full-scale national football inquest and probably some excellent documentary-making about What Went Wrong.

The manager Julian Nagelsmann is 38, making him one of the youngest at the tournament. He's been quietly rebuilding Germany's approach after years of cautious, results-first football. Whether it's worked is the question June will answer.

They hosted Euro 2024 and reached the quarter-finals before losing to Spain — which felt like genuine progress compared to the previous two World Cups. This is either a rebuild or a blip, and nobody quite knows which yet.

Ivory Coast are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions — they won it on home soil in 2024 in dramatic fashion, coming back from the brink of elimination to lift the trophy in front of their own fans. Dramatic is something of a theme with this team.

Sébastien Haller is their main striker. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022, returned to professional football, and scored the winning goal in the AFCON final. That's the whole story. Nothing else needs adding.

They're in Group E with Germany, Curaçao and Ecuador. Germany are favourites to top the group, but Ivory Coast are the strongest African side at this tournament and capable of causing real problems.

Ivory Coast's history includes a golden generation built around Drogba and the Touré brothers. This team is different in style but carries the same physical power and confidence. The pedigree is there even if the names have changed.

Several of their best players were born in France or developed through French football. If they meet France in the knockouts — which is possible — that creates a very interesting dynamic worth mentioning for the narrative value alone.