Germanys super sub Deniz Undav emerging as Golden Boot contender in World Cup debut

The world’s biggest stars are delivering on the world’s biggest stage.Lionel Messi leads all players at the World Cup with five goals through Argentina’s first two games while setting the record for the most goals in World Cup history.France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland will meet Friday after each opened the tournament with back-to-back multigoal games.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal’s win over Uzbekistan on Tuesday, becoming the first player to score at six World Cups.And then there is Germany’s Deniz Undav, the super sub who has emerged as an unlikely Golden Boot contender in his World Cup debut.Undav was first added to the German national team two years ago, when he was limited to a single, six-minute appearance at Euro 2024.Now, the 29-year-old son of Kurdish parents from Turkey is the pride of Deutschland, producing three goals and two assists — the most goal involvements by a substitute since 1990 — in just 67 total minutes played, helping Germany clinch the top spot in Group E and advance to the knockout stage for the first time since its 2014 triumph in Brazil.“Deniz has an incredible striker’s instinct,” Germany’s manager Julian Nagelsmann said.

“As soon as space opens up, he’s incredibly clever in the way he moves … Deniz doesn’t need to be prepared.He can jump in right away.”He has always made the most of his opportunities.He spent five years at Werder Bremen’s youth academy before he said the club released him because he was undersized.At 17, Undav played in the fourth tier of German football, supplementing his meager salary by waking at 4 a.m.

and working eight-hour shifts in a factory, operating laser-cutting machines.His potential surfaced in Belgium’s second division in 2020, leading him to play one season in the English Premier League at Brighton & Hove Albion, before he found a home at VfB Stuttgart, where he most recently finished second in scoring in the Bundesliga, behind...