NANTES: Amad Diallo scored a late winner as Ivory Coast stunned France 2-1 in a World Cup warm-up match in Nantes on Thursday.

France captain Kylian Mbappe had been hoping to break Olivier Giroud’s record of 57 goals for Les Bleus in what was his 97th appearance for his country but had a fruitless evening and was replaced by head coach Didier Deschamps at half-time, leaving him stuck on 56 goals in second place.

Rayan Cherki had given France the lead in the last minute of the first half with a powerful low strike after some neat footwork in the box.

But Guela Doue, the French-born older brother of France international Desire Doue, equalised on 53 minutes.

And Manchester United winger Diallo, who came on as a second half substitute, gave the Elephants victory with an instinctive finish six minutes from time.

France, who are one of the World Cup favourites, will play another friendly against Northern Ireland in Lille on Monday before beginning their bid for a third world title on June 16 against Senegal in East Rutherford.

Meanwhile, a largely second-string Spain were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Iraq, preparing for their first World Cup appearance since 1986, in A Coruna.

The European champions opened the scoring through Ferran Torres, their captain for the night, on 16 minutes.

But a cross from German-born left-back Merchas Doski surprised goalkeeper Joan Garcia just 11 minutes later.

Spain dominated possession and Torres hit the bar five minutes before the break but Spain, whose coach Luis de la Fuente gave seven players who are not part of his World Cup squad their international debuts on the night, could not find a winner.

In Toluca, co-hosts Mexico wrapped up their preparations in style with a 5-1 thumping of a youthful Serbia side.

Mexico, who launch the tournament on June 11 against South Africa at the Azteca stadium, had a shock in conceding after 19 minutes when Petar Stanic struck.

But Javier Aguirre’s team hit back through Johan Vasquez and a Stefan Bukinac own goal to lead 2-1 at the break.

Raul Jimenez, another own goal and Luis Chavez put gloss on the scoreline and raised home hopes that Aguirre’s side could go deep at the finals.

They also play South Korea and Czech Republic in Group ‘A’.

In the other friendly, Iran finished off their World Cup preparation with a 2-0 victory over Mali in Turkiye.

They are due to leave for their tournament base in Mexico on Saturday having finally received their entry visas this week.

However, they are yet to receive US visas and are due to play all three of their group matches in the United States, starting with New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 16.

Someone who did receive his US visa, though, was Switzerland forward Breel Embolo.

He had been prevented from flying to the US with the rest of the squad on Tuesday as his electronic travel authorisation was placed under review.

However, the Swiss federation announced on Thursday that his visa had been approved and that Embolo would travel on Friday to join his team-mates.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2026