TORONTO - Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Faé voiced frustration over what he viewed as insufficient fair play from Germany in his team's 2-1 World Cup loss on Saturday at BMO Field.

Faé grew upset after defender Wilfried Singo sent the ball out following an injury, only for German left back Nathaniel Brown to keep possession and spark an attack with a throw-in instead of returning it.

"I told him [Brown] to stay humble," Faé told reporters after the game. "He had a great game, and he doesn't need to talk badly to us because he is losing or at 1-1 because he wants to win.

"We would have liked more fair play from Germany. We would have liked them to give us the ball back when Singo got injured. They are a great football nation, and we take example from them, so I was disappointed by their lack of fair play."

Ivory Coast held the edge over Germany for much of the first half and part of the second on Saturday, as midfielder Franck Kessié's opening goal quieted the German supporters for an extended period.

Yet the German portion of the packed crowd erupted when Deniz Undav netted the decisive goal, his second of the contest, leaving Ivory Coast supporters dejected.

"Both teams deserved to win and had the chances to win the game," Faé said. "Well done to Germany. They won the game because of their experience. We had a great game, and I am really proud of how my players play against one of the favourites of the competition. We have to use this defeat for the rest of the tournament.

"We could have scored a second goal at 1-1, but we missed our chance. But they scored theirs. Undav was so calm when he took his chance. That's experience. We will use this to continue to grow and correct the little mistakes that we make. We still have our destiny between our feet, and we could qualify without having to rely on other results."

After failing to secure a spot in the knockout stage for the first time across their four World Cup appearances, Ivory Coast shift focus to their final group match versus Curaçao on Thursday.

Victory would put the Elephants through.

Forward Amad Diallo noted that he and his teammates must move past the Germany result. They have no choice.

"We [have] respect for ourselves, but we want to make history for Côte d'Ivoire, and we [are] going to go there with good mentality and try to live again," he said.

The positive for Ivory Coast is that Curaçao sit at No. 83 in FIFA's international rankings, far below the 31st-placed Ivory Coast. The Caribbean side also fell 7-1 to Germany in their opener.

"It's going to be a big moment for everyone, for this new generation, because we know we have quality in the team," Diallo said. "But the priority now is we are really focused on ourselves. It's going to be a very hard game."

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.