Fofana's thunderbolt sees of Gambia in the World Cup qualifier

Ivory Coast did not participate in the previous two World Cups. After missing Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, one of the strongest African selections intends to return to the global competition in 2026 and thus play for the first time since Brazil in 2014. The qualifications for the competition in the USA, Canada and Mexico have started very well for Jean-Louis Gasset team. True, the Ivory Coast was a big favourite in both November games, but after outclassing Seychelles (9:0), they authoritatively triumphed against Gambia (2:0), the quarter-finalist of the previous Cup of African Nations.

In the previous two qualification cycles, African champions from 1992 and 2015 were stopped by strong teams like Morocco and Cameroon, but this time, the draw seems to have favoured Didier Drogba’s country. Ivory Coast's biggest competitors for the World Cup are Gabon and Gambia, teams which have never before come close to qualifying for football's most important competition.

Even the pitch invasion at Sierra Leone couldn’t help them against Egypt

In today's meeting with Gambia, a team which proved to be tricky in recent years, the Elephants triumphed 2:0, and the resistance of the popular Scorpios was broken only in the 45th minute by Fiorentina offensive player Christian Kouma. For a long time, the guests had only a minimal advantage, and then Seko Fofana solved everything in the 86th minute. One of the most important Lens players last season, and Al Nassr’s starting midfielder, took a shot from 25 meters and sent the ball below the bar. Similar to Nigeria, Ivory Coast also has a lot of stars in their team, some of whom were on the bench today: Sebastien Haller, Jeremie Boga, Ibrahim Sangare…

AFRICA - WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Monday

Djibouti - Guinea B. 0-1 (0-1)

/Rodrigues 39/

Gambia - Ivory Coast 0-2 (0-1)

/Kouname 45, Fofana 85/

Liberia - Equatorial Guinea 0-1 (0-1)

/Nsoue 9/

22:00: (1.27) Mali (5.60) Cental African Republic (12.0)

22:00: (7.00) Chad (3.70) Madagascar (1.55)

22:00: (35.0) Seychelles (14.0) Kenya (1.05)

Tuesday

16:00: (6.25) Eswatini (3.60) Cape Verde (1.62)

16:00: (4.00) Botswana (3.20) Guinea (2.05)

16:00: (13.0) Somalia (5.20) Uganda (1.28)

16:00: (6.50) Malawi (3.60) Tunisia (1.60)

16:00: (4.00) Lesotho (3.40) Benin (1.97)

16:00: (3.45) Rwanda (3.25) S.Africa (2.20)

19:00: (5.40) Libya (3.60) Cameroon (1.70)

19:00: (6.25) Mauritius (3.90) Angola (1.57)

19:00: (7.25) Comores (3.70) Ghana (1.55)

19:00: (8.50) Sao Tome (4.30) Namibia (1.42)

19:00: (7.75) Togo (4.10) Senegal (1.47)

19:00: (4.30) South Sudan (3.50) Mauritania (1.87)

22:00: (7.00) Niger (3.80) Zambia (1.55)

22:00: (6.25) Tanzania (3.60) Morocco (1.63)

22:00: (5.70) Ethiopia (3.60) Burkina Faso (1.67)

***odds are subject to change