Brighton striker Malick Yalcouye marked his Ivory Coast debut with a goal as the Elephants defeated Ghana 2-0 in their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match in Bouake on Thursday.
The 20-year-old opened the scoring shortly before half-time, firing a low effort from just outside the penalty area that beat Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi at his near post.
Captain Franck Kessie then doubled Ivory Coast’s advantage in the 58th minute, converting a penalty to complete the victory.
The result came as Ghana endured further problems in attack after already being without midfielder Mohammed Kudus. Strikers Jordan Ayew and Antoine Semenyo were both forced to withdraw late because of injuries.
The match brought together two high-profile coaches in Herve Renard and Carlos Queiroz.
Renard returned to the Ivory Coast bench after the contract of Emerse Fae was not renewed following a last-32 World Cup exit. The Frenchman previously guided the Elephants to the 2015 AFCON title, the second of their three continental championships.
Queiroz took charge of Ghana shortly before the 2026 World Cup. The Portuguese coach has previously managed Real Madrid and served twice as an assistant to former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
Elsewhere on the opening day of qualifying for the 2027 AFCON in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, Zimbabwe staged a dramatic comeback to defeat Sierra Leone 3-2 in El Jadida, Morocco.
Zimbabwe trailed by two goals after 71 minutes in the Group E encounter before captain Marshall Munetsi pulled one back and then scored the winner in the 89th minute.
The Democratic Republic of Congo also made a winning start in Group E, defeating Equatorial Guinea 2-0 in Kinshasa.
Chancel Mbemba put DR Congo ahead with a fourth-minute header before Newcastle United striker Yoane Wissa added the second after the break.
In Group H, Libya secured a 2-2 draw against Botswana in dramatic fashion, with Ezoo El Mariamy converting a penalty in the sixth minute of added time in Tripoli.
Meanwhile, Claude Le Roy endured a losing start to his second spell as Congo Brazzaville coach after Namibia secured a 1-0 victory.
The 78-year-old returned to the dugout five years after leaving Togo, having coached six African national teams during a 41-year career.
Le Roy led Cameroon to the 1988 AFCON title in Morocco and also guided Ghana to third place at the 2008 tournament.
During his first spell with Congo Brazzaville, he led the team to the 2015 AFCON quarter-finals, where they surrendered a two-goal advantage before losing 4-2 to DR Congo.
Le Roy has appeared at nine AFCON tournaments as coach of Cameroon, Senegal, DR Congo, Ghana, Congo Brazzaville and Togo.
Ahead of the match against Namibia, he also claimed that some agents were demanding money before allowing players to join national teams.
“Some agents — I will not name them — want up to 40,000 euros ($45,500) for certain players to join national squads,” he told reporters.
Namibia, forced to play the match in Gaborone, Botswana, because it lacks an international-standard stadium, secured victory through Bethuel Muzeu’s 47th-minute goal.
The South Africa-based striker rose between two defenders to head Riaan Hanamub’s cross beyond goalkeeper Perrauld Ndinga and into the net.
Ezeana Emmanuel
