Ivory Coast's Seven-Goal Masterclass Sends a Message in Africa's World Cup Qualifiers
10 October 2025
Ivory Coast's Seven-Goal Masterclass Sends a Message in Africa's World Cup Qualifiers
Ivory Coast delivered a masterclass in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, crushing Seychelles 7-0 on the road in the ninth and penultimate round of Group 9. In the same group, Gabon edged past Gambia 4-3 in a thriller that kept the group wide open.
The Elephants climbed to 23 points, with a healthy +22 goal difference, and they have not conceded in nine matches, keeping them atop the group ahead of Gabon on 22.
The seven goals were shared among seven scorers: Ibrahim Sangare opened from a seventh-minute penalty, Emmanuel Agbado added the second in the 17th, Omar Diakite stretched the margin in the 32nd, and Ivan Jisan found the net in the 39th.
In the second half, Ivory Coast continued to dominate with three more through Yan Diomande in the 55th, Simon Adingra in the 67th, and Franck Kessié in the 90th.
The result leaves Ivory Coast one win away from booking a World Cup berth for the first time since 2014, needing to beat Kenya in the final round to seal qualification, regardless of Gabon's result against Burundi.
Aubameyang Shines, Yet Gabon's Night Ends in a Red Card
In the other match in the group, veteran Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck a four-goal spree to lead Gabon to a 4-3 triumph over The Gambia, before his joy turned sour with a red card five minutes from the end. His goals came in the 20th, 42nd, 62nd and 78th minutes, while Yankuba Minteh hit for The Gambia in the 23rd and 45+2 and 47th minutes.
Senegal, meanwhile, continued their march at the top of Group 2 with a resounding 5-0 win over South Sudan in Juba. Ismaïla Sarr struck twice (29, 54), Sadio Mane added one (46), Nicolas Jackson (60) and Sherif Ndai (75) completed the scoring.
Congo DR also earned a precious 1-0 victory over Togo, courtesy of Cedric Bakambu’s early strike in the 7th minute.
With Round 9 complete, Senegal lead Group 2 on 21 points, two clear of Congo DR on 19, and qualification will be decided in the final round when the Lions of Teranga face Mauritania.
Two light laughs: Target acquired: seven goals on the board; Seychelles still wondering when the training wheels came off. Punchline 2: If precision football were a sport, Ivory Coast just won the Olympics—now someone call the referee for a souvenir passport.
