Reigning champions Ivory Coast have beaten Mozambique 1-0 in Marrakech, in their first match at AFCON 2025. A neat side-footed finish from Manchester United forward Amad just four minutes into the second half was enough to earn victory in the opening game of Group F, with matches against Cameroon and Gabon to come in the remaining group stage.

French football manager Jean-Louis Gasset, who was in charge of Ivory Coast for the start of their Africa Cup of Nations campaign on home soil last year, has died at the age of 72.

Ivory Coast is holding legislative elections on Saturday, two months after 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara won a presidential ballot that extended his 14-year rule. In October, Ouattara won a fourth term with nearly 90 percent of votes cast in an election in which most opposition figures were excluded.

French crop trader Sucres et Denrées SA, a major cocoa buyer, has closed its operations in Ivory Coast’s port of San Pedro, according to sources familiar with the matter.