AFCON 2025: Amad Diallo Leads Ivory Coast To Opening Match Victory Against Mozanbique

 

Ivory Coast battled through a hard-fought opening match, beating Mozambique by 1-0, and secured the top spot of Group F, which they share with Gabon and Cameroon.  

The Ivorians are the defending champions of the competition from the last edition, when they defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the final to lift the trophy for the third time. Amad, who had established himself as a regular striker for the Manchester United starting lineup, scored his first goal of the tournament to break the deadlock after a goalless first half. 

Amad scored his second international goal to break the deadlock in the 49th minute. The Mozambique side was slow, settling into the second half when the winger struck. The winger latched onto a loose ball inside the box and finished off with a low-cut side-footed shot, sending the ball into the back of the net. 

Ivory Coast will face Cameroon in its next match. Cameroon will face off against Gabon in a separate game later in the day. 

Highlight of First and Second Half 

Both sides maintained a strong defensive approach for much of the first half. Amad did a great job, opening up Mozambique from the right, and it came close to working out an assist, but the effort from Ghislain Konan went just wide. 

The second remained much in the hands of the Ivorians. They had more presence in their opponents' box but recorded fewer goal attempts in the earlier part of the half. The Ivorians were settled and would rather keep a safe scoreline. In 

Moments of Spectacle 

Ivorian narrowly avoided a penalty from Jean Seri's tackle on Witi on the edge of the six-yard box. Fortunately, he cleared the ball before landing his body on his opponent. It was ruled a corner, instead. Franck Kessie had the nearest chance to double the lead, but was stopped by Hernani Siluane. Guima blocked the rebound shot from Bayo.