Manchester United forward Amad Diallo’s composed strike gave holders Ivory Coast victory over Mozambique in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group F opener in Marrakech.
The Elephants, aiming to become the first defending champions since Egypt in 2010 to retain the title, squandered a succession of first-half chances against opponents ranked 60 places below them at 102nd in Fifa’s rankings.
Amad provided relief for Emerse Fae’s side four minutes after the restart, capitalising on static defending to meet Franck Kessie’s knockdown with a cool low finish that arrowed between Sunderland defender Reinildo’s legs on its way in.
Mozambique goalkeeper Ernan was busy before the break, acrobatically tipping Yan Diomande’s miscued shot from Guela Doue’s delivery over the crossbar and denying Kessie when the midfielder sent a close-range header straight at him.
Ghislain Konan should have opened the scoring when Amad tricked his way inside the box and teed the left-back up in space in front of goal, only to flash a shot comfortably wide.
Ivory Coast came close to a second with added time looming, Kessie breaking clear but dithering before substitute Vakoun Bayo collected the loose ball and was denied by Ernan and midfielder Guima’s athletic clearance off the line.
Both sides play the second of their three group stage games on Sunday, when Mozambique meet Gabon in Agadir (12:30 GMT) and Ivory Coast meet five-time champions Cameroon in Marrakech (20:00).
