International Soccer
Amad scores late winner, Côte d’Ivoire take first World Cup match in Philadelphia
Côte d’Ivoire defeated Ecuador via a late goal from Manchester United’s Amad Diallo on Sunday night, taking the first ever World Cup match hosted in Philadelphia by a 1-0 score.
After the World Cup kicked off in Mexico City last Thursday, the city of Philadelphia had to wait until Sunday for their inaugural World Cup match. There was plenty of excitement in the buildup to the match around the city for both teams. Côte d’Ivoire gained a local following after training in the Union’s facilities in Chester, hosting fans in a scrimmage against Union II in addition to an open-to-public training session. Ecuador fans arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday, filling the steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and dressing the Rocky statue with an Ecuador jersey. Prior to the match, the Stateside Live! complex was a sea of yellow shirts.
Despite a scoreless first half, the match was end-to-end with plenty of scoring opportunities. Ecuador began the match on the front foot but couldn’t convert any of their scoring opportunities. Ecuador legend Enner Valencia fired over from close range, and wingers John Yeboah and Alan Minda both hit the crossbar. Côte d’Ivoire created multiple opportunities through winger Yan Diomande, who played high school soccer in Florida from 2022 to 2024. The RB Leipzig winger gave Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié a hard time down the right side towards the end of the first half, but Côte d’Ivoire did not convert any chances in the first half as well.
The second half took on a much different shape than the first, as Côte d’Ivoire took control of the match. Enner Valencia had an early chance for Ecuador, but after that, Côte d’Ivoire were dominant. Elye Wahi had a great chance via a cross by Diomande, but he turned it onto the crossbar — the same crossbar that was hit twice by Ecuador in the first 45 minutes. Amad Diallo came on as a substitute in the 56th minute, taking up the right wing position while Diomande swapped over to the left. Diomande was even more effective on the left flank than he was on the right, and Amad helped to control the tempo of the match for Côte d’Ivoire.
Just as the 90 minutes elapsed, Côte d’Ivoire found their breakthrough. Ball-carrying center back Wilfried Singo dribbled past Ecuador’s midfield line into the final third. A low cross into the box found the streaking Amad, who opened up his left foot and turned the ball into the bottom left corner. A finish eerily reminiscent of his winning goal in Côte d’Ivoire’s pre-World Cup victory over France, Amad became the first goal scorer in Philadelphia’s World Cup history, in addition to becoming Côte d’Ivoire’s youngest ever World Cup goal scorer at the age of 23. The lone goal was enough for Côte d’Ivoire to claim a 1-0 victory.
After the match, Côte d’Ivoire claim 2nd place in Group E, sitting behind Germany on goal differential. Ecuador sit in third place, ahead of Curaçao.
The World Cup returns to Philadelphia on Friday, June 19th as Brazil faces off against Danley Jean-Jacques’ Haiti. Côte d’Ivoire return to Philadelphia for their final group stage match on June 25th when they will face Curaçao.
