World Cup hopefuls France acquired their preparations off to a nasty begin as they threw away a half-time result in lose 2-1 towards Ivory Coast in Nantes.
Manchester Metropolis midfielder Rayan Cherki opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time with a pleasant strike after weaving previous just a few defenders.
However Guela Doue levelled the sport shortly after the break earlier than Manchester United’s Amad Diallo stroked residence the winner within the 84th minute to land a blow for Les Bleus forward of heading to North America – and provides an enormous increase to Ivory Coast forward of their marketing campaign.
Cherki opens the scoring in fashion
Didier Deschamps’ facet managed a lot of the opening interval and created the higher possibilities, with Kylian Mbappe going near transferring stage with Olivier Giroud’s all-time goalscoring document.
The France captain was denied from shut vary by Yahia Fofana, who produced a pointy early save to maintain the guests stage.
Adrien Rabiot then fired narrowly over from distance as Les Bleus continued to dictate proceedings.
Michael Olise was the following to check Fofana after a slick attacking transfer, however the Ivory Coast goalkeeper remained equal to the duty.
Ivory Coast supplied occasional moments of risk, with Simon Adingra heading over earlier than forcing Mike Maignan into motion after capitalising on a unfastened move from Aurélien Tchouameni.
France ultimately made their strain rely on the stroke of half-time by way of Cherki.
The Manchester Metropolis midfielder danced by way of the Ivory Coast defence earlier than firing a composed end past Fofana to present the hosts a deserved lead.
France collapse in second half
Deschamps made 5 modifications on the interval, together with withdrawing Mbappe, however the alterations disrupted France’s rhythm.
Ivory Coast levelled eight minutes after the restart when Nicolas Pepe slipped Guela Doue by way of on purpose and the Strasbourg defender completed confidently previous Maignan.
The guests accomplished the turnaround six minutes from time as Doue turned supplier, choosing out Amad Diallo, who swept an excellent first-time end past the France goalkeeper.
It secured a first-ever victory for Ivory Coast over France and handed Emerse Fae’s facet a memorable consequence, whereas Deschamps was left to replicate on a defeat that uncovered defensive vulnerabilities forward of the World Cup.
