{"id":37084,"date":"2026-06-15T07:40:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T05:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=37084"},"modified":"2026-06-15T07:40:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T05:40:43","slug":"ivory-coast-secure-vital-world-cup-victory-over-ecuador","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ivory-coast-secure-vital-world-cup-victory-over-ecuador\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivory Coast secure vital World Cup victory over Ecuador \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United winger Amad Diallo scored a superb 90th-minute winner to secure a vital 1\u20130 victory for Ivory Coast against Ecuador in their opening Group E match at the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The substitute produced a stunning first-time finish, opening up his left foot to guide the ball into the far corner following a powerful individual run from defender Wilfried Singo. The dramatic strike shattered Ecuador\u2019s remarkable 19-game unbeaten streak, which had stretched back nearly two years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Diallo\u2019s omission from the starting line-up had been a surprise ahead of kickoff, as the Elephants marked their return to the global tournament for the first time in 12 years. However, his late cameo has handed the African nation a massive advantage as they look to qualify for the knockout stages.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ivory Coast now sit in a strong position in Group E, which also features Germany and Cura\u00e7ao. The Elephants will face Germany in their next fixture on June 20, knowing that a victory will guarantee them a historic spot in the round of 16 for the first time in their history.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37085,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[305,20],"class_list":["post-37084","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-special-projects","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Manchester United winger Amad Diallo scored a superb 90th-minute winner to secure a vital 1\u20130 victory for Ivory Coast against Ecuador","published_date":"2026-06-15 07:14:53","news_description":"Manchester United winger Amad Diallo scored a superb 90th-minute winner to secure a vital 1\u20130 victory for Ivory Coast against Ecuador","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37086,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37084\/revisions\/37086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}