Top of Group E is on the line as both Germany and Côte d'Ivoire arrive on three points, with the winner all but booking knockout passage. Germany delivered the tournament's biggest statement — a 7-1 dismantling of Curacao, their 10th straight victory under Julian Nagelsmann — but that came against vastly inferior opposition. The Ivorians are a different proposition: organized, hardened, and fresh off a 90th-minute Amad Diallo winner that ended Ecuador's 19-game unbeaten run.

Expect Germany to dominate territory and dictate tempo through their intact Havertz-Musiala-Wirtz axis, working third-man combinations against CIV's compact mid-block. The Ivorians will sit deep and look to spring Diallo and Gradel on the vertical break, and with their composure on the counter a German clean sheet looks improbable. That tension — Germany's sustained, clinical output against a side built to punish a single lapse — is what shapes this game.

The verdict is a confident but honest one: Germany win, yet both teams score. The favorites have the firepower and tournament temperament to take pole position in a winner-takes-most fixture, while Côte d'Ivoire's transition threat keeps this competitive rather than a demolition. Germany 3-1, with the standout play being Germany win plus BTTS.