'The Panzer' Germany Secures Dramatic Comeback Win, Advances to Knockout Stage for First Time in 12 Years

[Anchor]

The 'Panzer' Germany has secured an early spot in the Round of 32 with two consecutive victories. Overcoming the humiliation of being eliminated in the group stage in two consecutive tournaments, they have advanced to the knockout stage for the first time in 12 years.

Reporter Seo Dae-won has the story.

[Reporter]

Germany, which cruised to a 7-1 victory in their first match against World Cup debutants Curaçao, found themselves trailing after conceding the opening goal in the 30th minute of the first half against African dark horse Ivory Coast in their second match.

'Super sub' Undav came to the rescue of the struggling Panzer squad.

Substituted in at the 15th minute of the second half, Undav scored the equalizer just eight minutes after stepping onto the pitch.

And just when the match seemed destined to end in a 1-1 draw, he became the hero once again in the final moments.

Four minutes into second-half stoppage time, he received a brilliant through ball from Nmecha and fired a left-footed shot without hesitation to net a thrilling winning goal.

Undav, who also scored after coming on in the second half of the first match, now has three goals in this tournament, tying him with Argentina's Messi and Canada's David.

With a 2-1 comeback victory, Germany has secured two straight wins, clinching the top spot in their group and an early ticket to the Round of 32.

Germany, the winners of the 2014 Brazil World Cup, suffered the humiliation of back-to-back group stage exits after losing 2-0 to South Korea in Russia eight years ago and 2-1 to Japan in Qatar four years ago. They have now raised expectations for a return to glory and a record-tying fifth title.

[Julian Nagelsmann / Germany National Football Team Head Coach: We have big ambitions. But every team in the World Cup has ambitions, right? We do, too. The most important thing for us is to focus on the next step and get better with every game we play.]

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The Netherlands, which drew 2-2 with Japan in their first match, climbed to the top of their group after a goal-scoring spree against Sweden.

Brobbey and Gakpo each scored two goals to lead their team to a 5-1 landslide victory.

(Video Editing: Lee Jae-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.