Ivory Coast 1-0 Ecuador: 'Here to write history' - How far can Ivory Coast go with the Diallo-Diomande duo?

Winning over Ecuador (1-0) in the early hours of Monday morning in their opening match at the 2026 World Cup, Ivory Coast laid down a marker with the help of their hot-shot duo, Amad Diallo and Yan Diomande.

It was the first African win at the 2026 World Cup. Thanks to a goal from Amad Diallo in the 90th minute, Ivory Coast brought down Ecuador 1-0 in Group E.

At kick-off, the Manchester United winger had however started on the bench. 'Amad had a slight niggle. We just did not want to take any risks and wanted to keep him for the last 30 minutes,' Ivorian manager Emerse Fae told NCI after the match.

With a cool finish, six duels won out of eight, and above all five completed dribbles out of six, Amad Diallo produced a thunderous cameo on the right wing.

Until his arrival in the 56th minute, that area had been occupied by Yan Diomande. Usually the man on the left flank, the RB Leipzig winger produced a brilliant stand-in performance, making the difference constantly and being involved in every good move.

Named man of the match by FIFA, Diomande finished the night with the highest total in five categories: touches (80), chances created (5), duels won (11), progressive carries (15) and passes into the final third (22).

'To make history and go as far as possible at the World Cup'

Statistics that say plenty about the level of his first World Cup display. Liverpool, who are looking for a successor to Mohamed Salah on the right wing and are thought to be interested in him, will not have missed a single moment of it.

But Yan Diomande will have time to think about his future and the transfer window. For now, his ambitions concern only the Ivorian national team, and they are as big as his potential.

Diomande said: 'We wanted to start in style. We came here to represent 33 million people, we play for our families, our friends and our loved ones. We did not come here to take part, we came here to make history and go as far as possible.

' The hero of the night, Amad Diallo, said almost the same thing: 'We needed this. We came here to write history. It is the first global tournament for each one of us. We are super-motivated and we have been mentally prepared since the match against France. We are very happy with this victory, but it does not stop there: there are two more matches coming up that we want to approach with the same mentality.'

Can Ivory Coast really make history?

The two are well placed to achieve their target. In three appearances in 2006, 2010 and 2014, the generation of Didier Drogba, Yaya and Kolo Toure, Bonaventure and Salomon Kalou never managed to get out of the group stage.

Twelve years on, their heirs are ideally placed to break that glass ceiling. With the new World Cup format, these three points could be enough for them to finish, in the worst-case scenario, among the best third-placed teams, especially as the Elephants close out Group E with a match against modest Curacao, swept aside 7-1 by Germany on Sunday.

But the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations winners are aiming for much higher than a backdoor qualification. Fae said:

'We want to finish top of the group. We were not the favourites going in, but we have a chance on Saturday to secure our ticket to the next round, and on top of that to guarantee top spot, so we are going to give it everything we have.' An Elephant-sized appetite.