France - Cote d'Ivoire: Xela Duay equalises, the match continues
In the ongoing friendly between France and Cote d'Ivoire, Jela Douay scored a goal in the 53rd minute to restart the toe-to-toe battle. Although Ryan Sherkey gave France an early lead, Côte d'Ivoire soon equalised. Both teams are testing their additions ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
A dramatic friendly football match between France and Côte d'Ivoire was staged at the 'La Beaujolais - Louis Fontenou' stadium in the city of Nantes. Sebastian Giesheimer from Austria is acting as the main referee for this top class fight.
The first goal in this match went to the French team. In the first half of the game, Ryan Sherkey gave France the lead with a superb shot in the 45th minute. However, in the second half, the excitement of the match came back. In the 53rd minute, Côte d'Ivoire defender Jela Duay scored to level the score at 1–1. Interestingly, Zela Douay is the elder brother of Desiree Douay who plays for France.
Currently, both groups of this match are going smoothly. Both the teams will face their opponents in Group-I (France: Senegal, Iraq, Norway) and Group-E (Cote-Ivoire: Portugal, Germany, Quedarasau) respectively at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The head coaches are testing their girls through this friendly match.