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Côte d'Ivoire head coach Emerse Faé has accused Germany of showing a "lack of fair play" during their 1-2 defeat in Saturday’s FIFA World Cup match held in Toronto.

The incident occurred when Ivorian defender Wilfried Singo deliberately put the ball out of play due to an injury. However, instead of returning possession, Germany’s Nathaniel Brown opted to restart play quickly and launch an attack from the throw-in, a move that angered Faé.

Addressing the media after the game, as reported by ESPN, Faé expressed disappointment with the German left-back’s behaviour. “I told him [Brown] to stay humble. He had a great match, and he doesn’t need to speak disrespectfully towards us, whether he is leading or drawing 1-1, just because he’s desperate to win,” Faé remarked.

He added, “We expected more fair play from Germany. We hoped they would return the ball when Singo went down injured. They are a great footballing nation, one we look up to, so I was disappointed by their lack of sportsmanship.”

Côte d'Ivoire had taken a 1-0 lead in the first half but eventually lost after a tightly contested match. Reflecting on the performance, Faé said, “Both teams had opportunities and could have won. Congratulations to Germany—they used their experience to take the victory. I’m very proud of my players for how they competed against one of the tournament favourites. We must learn from this defeat and apply the lessons in the remaining matches.”

Faé acknowledged that his side missed a crucial opportunity when the score was level. “We could have scored a second goal at 1-1, but we didn’t take our chance. They did. [Deniz] Undav showed great composure when finishing his opportunity—that’s the difference experience makes. We’ll use this to improve and eliminate small mistakes. Our fate is still in our own hands, and we can qualify without depending on other results.”

Currently sitting second in Group E with three points, Côte d'Ivoire will face Curaçao in their final group-stage fixture.