Four takeaways from Ivory Coast’s surprising victory over France in the build-up to the World Cup

Emerse Faé deserves a lot of credit as he pulled off a huge upset in his hometown. The Ivory Coast coach, born in the French city of Nantes, led the team he once represented as a player to one of the biggest surprises in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup by beating tournament favorite France.

But Thursday’s result now raises concerns about France’s scoring efficiency and its killer instinct to put together a winnable game. Now it also puts the focus on an Ivory Coast team that could now be one of the potential dark horses of the tournament.

The defining story of this match was how Côte d’Ivoire turned the tide of the match and went up in the second half, largely thanks to the contributions of French-born players Guéla Doué (whose brother Désiré Doué plays for France) and Nicolas Pépé. Then it was Guéla who assisted Amad Diallo in the winning goal.

Here are my conclusions:

1. Waste in France is a concern

France controlled the match in Nantes at the beginning, but could not put the game away. It wasn’t until Rayan Cherki’s goal in the 45th minute that Les Bleus found the back of the net.

French coach Didier Deschamps made the obvious decision not to start the players who recently won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, particularly Ousmane Dembélé. That still left players of impressive quality such as Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery, Désiré Doué and Lucas Hernández on the bench. Despite that, France was able to initiate a top-class attack that included Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Thuram and Michael Olise.

Ivory Coast did well enough to keep the match goalless at 0-0 throughout and actually had the chance to strike first when Simon Adingra took advantage of a mistake by Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Mike Maignan, only to see the AC Milan man pull off the save.

Despite the lead in the first half, France was wasteful throughout. Mbappé saw a good chance saved by Yahia Fofana in the first minutes. Thuram and Olise also failed to take advantage of their scoring chances in the first half.

Mbappé was particularly guilty. The Real Madrid star is just one goal behind Olivier Giroud to become France’s all-time goalscorer but has faced criticism for inefficient finishing and wasting opportunities close to goal. This match, played in front of home fans, will only increase these concerns.

In the end, their inability to put the game away in the first half sank them. While France was wasteful, Ivory Coast were clinical as the team equalized in the 53rd minute when Guéla Doué was sent solo over Maignan with a perfect pass from Villarreal’s Pépé. Then, in the 84th minute, it was Doué who set up Diallo with a pass from the right wing that the Manchester United attacker was able to finish from the center of the area.

At the World Cup, chances will be harder to come by and unless France are able to make the most of them, they could have a tough road ahead despite their immense talent.

2. Ivory Coast’s discipline pays off

At first, it seemed that this match was going to end on a cost for France. Deschamps’ team controlled the pace and had most of the early opportunities. But Ivory Coast grew in the game and now Fae has the opportunity to lead Ivory Coast to a significant victory that should give him momentum heading into the World Cup.

Playing away against a World Cup favorite and trailing at half, Ivory Coast responded by playing brilliantly. In the end, the goals he scored were thanks to impressive individual quality with passes that crossed the midfield and the French defense.

At first, Côte d’Ivoire might have felt frustrated or overwhelmed, but instead they maintained their determination and let their individual quality come through.

Right back Doué was the best player on the field in this match. The Strasbourg winger advanced effectively in attack and managed to score a goal and an assist. Defensively, he was also very impressive in his ability to help contain France’s attack on his side of the field. He also earned some bragging rights with the victory over his brother’s team.

3. The Cherki case to start

In a team as talented as Les Bleus, the internal competition for minutes in the World Cup is fierce. Rayan Cherki is not usually considered a starter for a first-choice French team, but the Manchester City attacker made a great case on Thursday as he was the best player on the pitch in the first half. A longtime veteran of France’s youth teams and a member of the silver medal-winning 2024 Olympic team, the Lyon native has been making strides with the full French team over the past year.

Cherki did not debut for France until June 5, 2025, when he also scored his first goal. Shortly before half-time, he scored the second international goal of his career to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

It wasn’t just the goal, Cherki was on the ball for the entire 78 minutes and constantly got into dangerous spots and found his teammates on the attack. In the end, it was one of the few bright spots on a bad day for France.

4. Ivory Coast as the dark horse?

Guéla Doué was the most outstanding player of the match. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP via Getty Images)

There has been a lot of talk about Ivory Coast being a potential sleeper team that could break out this summer. The team has a manageable group with Ecuador, Curacao and Germany completing Group E.

But now expectations will only increase. A victory over Curacao should be expected and a result over Germany would require a similar level of determination as defeating France. The match against Ecuador could be an even match.

What should be encouraging for Côte d’Ivoire is that this result against France was not the typical upset where a set-piece, penalty or red card ties the game. Ivory Coast scored two goals during the course of the game, with top-notch passing and effective finishing. What this match showed was that Ivory Coast has the talent to play with the best and the players trust in their ability.