Elephants march to victory over Gambia

by Staff Reporter

Monday Nov 20, 2023. 20:16

Ivory Coast made it two wins out of two in their latest Africa 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier, as goals by Christian Kouame and Seko Fofana were enough for the Elephants to see out a 2-0 win over Gambia at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium on Monday.

The Elephants held most of the ball during opening exchanges of the game but provided little danger going forward. With Gambia defending inside their area, Ivory Coast looked to get a passing rhythm going from defensive settings.

Côte d’Ivoire continued to see more of the ball during the first 20 minutes, while Gambia produced one goal scoring chance during this period.

As the game progressed, neither side provided any real threat toward their respective defences, with only two shots being produced as the 35th minute rolled on.

Ivory Coast continued to dominate play throughout the first half but often fell short at the final hurdle. Nonetheless, the Elephants’ pressure paid off on the stroke of half-time as Christian Kouame opened the scoring with a finish from close range.

Much like the first-half, Côte d’Ivoire dominated play at the beginning of the restart. It appeared though as Gambia were content with surrendering the ball to the visitors and sat back in defending their 18-yard-area.

With an hour played at the Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Ivory Coast actively searched for a second goal but battled to break Gambia’s low block. The Scorpions attacked in sporadic moments and offered little threat to the Ivory Coast in doing so.

Nonetheless, Ivory Coast scored an assurance goal five minutes from time as Seko Fofana latched onto a well-timed pass by Franck Kessie inside the area before putting the ball into the back of the net.

In seeing out the goal, Ivory Coast went on to secure their second victory in the current set of Africa 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Gambia 0

Ivory Coast (1) 2 (Kouame 45’ Fofana 85’)

Gambia: Jobe, Janko, Sanneh, Colley, Mendy (Barry 92’), Jallow, Adams, Sonko Sundberg (Sanyang 92’), Ngum (Colley 74’), Fadera (Badamosi 81’), Barrow (Ceesay 92’)

Ivory Coast: Fofana, Kamara, Ndicka, Boly, Aurier, Fofana, Kessie, Andingra (Boga 66’), Traore (Seri 89’), Kouame (Singo 89’), Diakite (Konate 65’)