Amad Diallo strikes late as Ivory Coast open World Cup with Ecuador win

Amad Diallo buries Ecuador in the 90th minute

Ivory Coast 1–0 Ecuador. Amad Diallo, youngest ever Ivorian World Cup goalscorer, won it at the death (2). Sunday night in Group E and your team did not blink.

The wait was long. Ivory Coast had not won a World Cup match since 2014. Diallo changed that with one strike, and he is 23.

Ecuador's coach Sebastian Beccacece did not take it well. "It hurts because it was an unfair defeat," he said afterwards (1).

Diomande was unstoppable on his World Cup debut

Yan Diomande ran the game. The RB Leipzig man was everywhere against Ecuador. French outlet RMC called him "époustouflant", breathtaking (6). Liverpool and PSG are circling, but nobody is getting a decision yet.

Coach Emerse Fae addressed the noise directly: "When we were in France, during the preparation, journalists told me he was about to sign with PSG. Here, they tell me he's about to sign with Liverpool! I don't know, but for now, he will focus on the World Cup, and then afterwards, he can think about the rest of his career" (3) (4).

Translation: enjoy him while he is yours. The transfer saga can wait.

Fan-reaktioner

The mood is giddy. One Reddit post summed it up: Ivory Coast are apparently the first team at this World Cup to win "whilst having less bird species than their opposition" (1). The jokes are flying, but underneath it is real pride, a first World Cup win in 12 years and a squad that looks built for more. Full thread on r/soccer