Ivory Coast thrash Seychelles in World Cup qualifier

Afcon 2023 host Ivory Coast cruised past Seychelles 9-0 in Abidjan on Friday to create a record winning margin for a World Cup qualifier in Africa in Group F.

Goals from Borussia Dortmund forward Sebastien Haller, Ibrahim Sangare, Simon Adingra, Seko Fofana. A brace apiece from Karim Konaté & Hamed Traore. J. Krasso was the other scorer as the home side recorded a big opening win on matchday one and Group F match day one.

Seychelles, a tourist destination off the east coast of Africa, is 195th in the FIFA rankings, 121 places below the Ivory Coast.

The same day in Group A, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso played to a 1-1 draw in their opening Group A World Cup 2026 opening qualifier in Morrocco on Friday.

Mama Baldé scored through a header to give Guinea-Bissau their lead, but a solo goal from Bertrand Traoré in the 61st minute drew parity for the visiting team.

As a result, following Egypt’s 6-0 thrashing of Djibouti on Thursday at the Cairo International Stadium, they remain top of group A after the first round of matches.

Elsewhere on Friday, Inaki Williams’s last-gasp winner helped Ghana to an opening 1-0 victory over Madagascar in their qualifier for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

In other matches, Mali, Tunisia, Zambia and Cameroon all recorded opening wins – although Cameroon suffered an injury scare when their Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana went off injured 10 minutes from time.

The action to continue on Saturday, as African reigning champions Senegal and South Africa are among the teams to complete the 26-fixture first-round ends. Matchday two begins on Sunday.