Côte d’Ivoire head coach Emerse Fae believes his team’s World Cup ambitions are real after Amad Diallo’s dramatic late winner secured a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in their opening Group E match on Sunday.
Diallo came off the bench to score in the 90th minute and hand the Ivorians a crucial three points, continuing an impressive run of form that has strengthened belief within the squad ahead of the rest of the tournament.
The African champions have enjoyed a remarkable build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Since sealing qualification for the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Côte d’Ivoire have recorded convincing friendly wins over South Korea and Scotland before claiming an impressive 2-1 away victory against France last week.
That momentum carried into their World Cup opener, where a youthful Ivorian side overcame a tough Ecuador team packed with experience and quality. Fae’s attack featured highly rated 19-year-old winger Yan Diomande, who was tested throughout by an Ecuador defence led by Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Willian Pacho and Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie, with Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo providing protection in front of them.
Despite the challenge, Côte d’Ivoire showed resilience and character to grind out a vital win.
“We came to the U.S. for this, and we came here with ambitions, with high hopes,” Emerse Fae told reporters after the match.
“We don’t want to just have visited the U.S. and have to go back, so everything is going well for now.
“We’ve beaten France. We are starting this competition well against Ecuador, a very tough team, but we managed to come into our own and won the match. This shows that our team has acquitted itself well.”
The victory could prove decisive in the race for a place in the knockout rounds. With four-time world champions Germany widely regarded as favourites to top Group E, the battle for second place is expected to be fiercely contested.
Germany strengthened their credentials with a ruthless 7-1 victory over World Cup debutants Curaçao in the group’s other opening fixture in Houston.
Attention now turns to Saturday’s heavyweight clash between Côte d’Ivoire and Germany in Toronto, a match that could have a major impact on qualification hopes.
Fae acknowledged the size of the challenge but insisted his players will approach the game with confidence rather than fear.
“It will be a difficult match again,” Fae added. “It’s Germany. They have lots and lots of experience. World Cup, they won it a few times. They have players playing in the greatest European clubs. They have a very striking power.”
“7-1 for the first match in this competition. It’s not nothing, but we’ll go there to win. With the mind to win and to get to our qualification from the second day on.
“We’ll go eyeball to eyeball with them and we’ll try to give it our all. We have our own qualities. We’ll lean on our own strength and we’ll try to bring down the German wall.”
Côte d’Ivoire are appearing at the World Cup for the first time since 2014 and are still searching for their first qualification to the knockout stages.
However, after ending Ecuador’s 19-match unbeaten run and continuing a series of impressive results against top opposition, Fae believes his young squad is ready to challenge the world’s best and make history on football’s biggest stage.
