AFCON 2025
Cote D’Ivoire recorded a famous victory over World Cup favourites France in Nantes in a warm-up match ahead of the start of the World Cup next week.
Manchester United”s winger Anad Diallo came off the bench in the second half to seal Cote D’Ivoire’s first victory over France.
France came into the tie on the back of a nine-game unbeaten run with eight wins and a draw as they hoped to seal another victory in the send-off game against the Elephants.
Didier Deschamps lined up a star-studded squad with Kylian Mbappe, Rayan Cherki, Michael Olise and Marcus Thuram leading in attack.
However, the West African side punished the 2018 champions with quick interchange of play to record a famous 2-1 win.
The hosts dominated possession in the first half pinning Cote D’Ivoire in their own half with waves of attacking play.
Rayan Cherki put France ahead on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant finish from the edge of the box after a series of saves by Yahia Fofana.
The introduction of former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe and Manchester United”s forward Amad Diallo added bite to Cote D’Ivoire’s attack in the second half as they pushed for the equaliser.
Nicolas Pepe placed a sublime pass past France’s defence line to Guela Doue, Desire Doue’s brother who fired the ball into the bottom corner to level the scoreline.
Guela Doue turned the provider with six minutes to the end of regular time as he placed a cut-back pass to Amad Diallo who buried the ball into the bottom corner.
It ended 2-1 in favour of the Elephants as they head into the World Cup with a level of confidence and belief.
