In a stunning pre-World Cup friendly upset held on Thursday at Nantes’ Stade de la Beaujoire, Ivory Coast secured a 2-1 victory over host nation France, with the match delivering a special personal twist for Ivory Coast’s standout performer Guéla Doué, whose own brother Désiré Doué sat on France’s substitutes bench.
The first half looked to be heading France’s way, as promising young attacker Rayan Cherki broke through two Ivory Coast defenders in stoppage time before slotting a low shot past Ivorian goalkeeper Yahia Fofana to put Les Bleus up 1-0 going into the break. Fofana was put under consistent pressure throughout the 90 minutes, pulling off critical saves to deny star forward Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and a second effort from Cherki that would have doubled France’s lead.
Ivory Coast turned the tide early in the second half. Eight minutes after the restart, Nicolas Pépé played a perfectly timed through ball to Guéla Doué, who converted the chance to level the score at 1-1. With six minutes remaining on the clock, the 22-year-old winger set up the match-winning goal: his low cross from the right flank found Amad Diallo, who fired home to secure the unexpected win for the African side.
France head coach Didier Deschamps opted to leave all six of his players who featured in the recent 2024 UEFA Champions League final – Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Désiré Doué, Lucas Hernandez and William Saliba – on the bench for the fixture. He did bring on Hernandez, Zaïre-Emery and Barcola as second-half substitutes as he looked to change the game. The match also marked a rare public show of appreciation for Deschamps, whose tenure as France manager, which began in 2012 and includes a 2018 FIFA World Cup title and a 2022 World Cup final appearance, will end following this summer’s tournament. Many fans in attendance held up posters displaying Deschamps’ image to thank him for his years of successful leadership.
In a separate pre-World Cup warm-up fixture on the same day, another tournament favorite Spain was held to a 1-1 draw at home against Iraq in La Coruña. La Roja, missing key young forwards Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams through injury, took an early lead through Ferran Torres, who found the back of the net in the 16th minute. But Iraq equalized before the 30-minute mark, when Merchas Doski hit a powerful left-footed strike from just outside the penalty area that beat Spain goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente confirmed after the match that he expects Lamine Yamal to regain full fitness in time for Spain’s opening World Cup group match against Cape Verde, scheduled for June 15 in Atlanta. Like Deschamps, de la Fuente rested all players who took part in the recent Champions League final – David Raya, Martin Zubimendi and Fabián Ruiz – while recently injured midfielder Mikel Merino made an appearance as a second-half substitute.
Following Thursday’s fixtures, both European sides have one final warm-up match scheduled before traveling to the United States for the World Cup. France will face Northern Ireland in Lille on Monday, while Spain will take on Peru in Mexico the same day. For their opening group matches, Ivory Coast kicks off its World Cup campaign against Ecuador in Philadelphia on June 14, with Spain facing Cape Verde a day later in Atlanta. France opens its title bid against Senegal on June 16 in New Jersey, while Iraq meets Norway on the same day in Massachusetts.