Ibrahim Sangare was handed his first start at the 2026 World Cup as the Ivory Coast played Germany.
Sangare played lots of football at Forest during the 2025/26 campaign and proved to be sorely missed when he headed off to the African Cup of Nations around the Christmas period.
His inclusion in the Ivory Coast team for the game against Germany wasn’t a surprise, and it was somewhat shocking that he was overlooked for the group opener against Ecuador.
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Sangare impressed for the Ivory Coast against Germany, and a win against Curacao will be enough to see the Forest man set up a knockout clash for his country.
FIFA are putting reports together of every game that is played at this summer’s World Cup and the in-game analysis for Sangare’s showing against Germany is rather impressive.
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Ibrahim Sangare’s stats after the Ivory Coast lose to Germany
Sangare and Co were so close to getting through with a game to spare on Saturday. Franck Kessie opened the scoring, but a brace from Deniz Undav in the last 22 minutes saw the serial winners progress instead.
Sangare has taken some time to get up to speed for Forest since his £30 million signing from PSV in the summer of 2023, but he’s a different entity when he plays for his country.
According to FIFA’s report, the midfielder completed four of the six line-breaking passes that he attempted with his 67%, the third best of any Ivory Coast player on the night.
Sangare completed 33 of 36 passes he attempted on the night, and although there were some loose exchanges, he largely did his job well for the 75-minute appearance that he made.
Defensively, Sangare was sound, too. He made nine clearances, which was four more than the next best, Emmanuel Agbadou, and also made two clearances and regained possession seven times for his country.
- Minutes played: 75
- Line-breaking passes: 6
- Passes: 33/36 (92%)
- Ball Progressions: 3
- Blocks: 9
- Clearances: 3
- Possession regained: 7
- Top speed: 29.7km/h
Sangare will now hope he’s done enough to keep his place next up when the Ivory Coast know that a win over Curacao will see them through to the final 32.
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