The victory of Ivory Coast 1-0 over the Ecuadorthis Sunday (14), for the first round of Group E of the 2026 World Cuphad a special meaning for Ivorians. In addition to putting the African team in a good position in the fight for a place in the round of 16, the result ended a taboo that had accompanied the team since its debut at the World Cup.
Until then, the team had never beaten a South American team in World Cups. The curiosity is even more highlighted by the fact that the Ivorians faced at least one opponent from South America in all of their participation in the tournament.
This is Côte d’Ivoire’s fourth participation in the World Cup. The team competed in the 2006, 2010, 2014 and now 2026 editions. In their first three appearances, they ended up eliminated in the group stage.
At the 2006 World Cup in , the so-called “golden generation” led by Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré and Kolo Touré fell into one of the most difficult groups of the tournament. The debut was a 2-1 defeat to Argentina. Hernán Crespo and Javier Saviola scored for the Argentines, while Drogba scored the first goal in Côte d’Ivoire’s history in World Cups.
Subsequently, the Ivorians lost 2-1 to and ended the campaign with a 3-2 victory over Serbia and Montenegro. Even so, they finished outside the qualifying zone.
In 2010, in South Africa, Ivory Coast once again joined a complicated group. The team drew goalless with Portugal in their debut, but ended up defeated 3-1 by Brazil. Luís Fabiano, twice, and Elano scored for , while Didier Drogba scored for the Africans. In the last round, the 3-0 victory over North Korea was not enough to avoid elimination.
Four years later, at the World Cup held in Brazil, history repeated itself again. Ivory Coast debuted with a 2-1 comeback victory over Japan, but suffered a 2-1 defeat to Colombia in the second round. James Rodríguez and Juan Fernando Quintero scored for the Colombians, while Gervinho scored for the Ivorians.
Needing only a draw to advance to the round of 16, the African team ended up defeated 2-1 by Greece in the decisive round and said goodbye to the competition in the group stage.
Thus, before the duel against Ecuador, they had accumulated three defeats in three clashes against South American teams in World Cups: Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.
The scenario changed this Sunday. With the victory over the Ecuadorians, the Ivorians achieved their first triumph against a South American team in the World Cup.
With three points in the Group E table, the team led by coach Emerse Faé appears in second place, behind Germany, which leads with an advantage on goal difference. The second round clash will be against the European team, on Saturday (20), in Toronto.
