England vs Ivory Coast LIVE: Result, final score and reaction from international fixture
Relive all the action from Wembley as the Three Lions continued their World Cup preparations
Stand-in skipper Raheem Sterling set up one and scored another as England cruised to victory in a friendly against Ivory Coast that felt more like a training match after Serge Aurier’s sending off.
Gareth Southgate made 10 changes from Saturday’s comeback win against well-drilled Switzerland as World Cup preparations continued with a first-ever senior international meeting of these nations.
Sterling crossed for Ollie Watkins’ opener and added a second shortly after Aurier’s first-half sending off, with many having left Wembley by the time Tyrone Mings headed home to make it 3-0 at the death. Relive all the action below:
England 0 - 0 Ivory Coast
6 mins: Close! James Ward-Prowse brings the ball down the inside right channel and whips a decent cross into the middle of the box. Jude Bellingham makes a run from deep and arrives with a leap towards the ball that just flies over his head and gets cleared by the visitors.
Raheem Sterling is down and needs a check up from the physios.
England 0 - 0 Ivory Coast
3 mins: Tyrick Mitchell defends a long ball up towards Nicolas Pepe and taps it back into the middle of the pitch.
Max Gradel collects the ball and takes on Ben White who stops his run with a heavy tackle. The ball comes to Jude Bellingham and he spins towards goal sending England away on a break. He passes the ball up to Ollie Waktins but he loses it on the edge of the box.
England 0 - 0 Ivory Coast
Kick off: England get the match underway with Raheem Sterling sending it back to Harry Maguire. Ben White is playing at right-back tonight and knocks the ball down the wing.
It’s booted into the midfield where James Ward-Prowse’s headed knocks the ball towards Simon Deli. The Ivory Coast defender clears his lines but lands on Oli Watkins with his follow through and scrapes his studs down the thigh of the England striker.
England vs Ivory Coast
Here come the players.
Raheem Sterling leads out the Three Lions for the the third time this evening. Oli Watkins leads the line in the absence of Harry Kane and will want to stake a claim for a spot in the World Cup squad.
England vs Ivory Coast
‘Excited’ Beaumelle looking forward to playing England
Ivory Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle says he is excited to take charge of Ivory Coast’s first ever game against England. He told Sky Sports: “We are so excited to play this historic game against the Three Lions here at Wembley.
“We did a good job against France so we can do the same performance but maybe with a better result.
“I can see in the two years since I have been here that we have improved a lot. We just have to continue and get those opportunities to build in the game.”
Southgate on team changes
Gareth Southgate spoke about his team selection and says he wants to ensure his entire squad is involved in these friendlies to give them confidence going forward for England. He said:
“We want to keep all of the squad involved. I think that has been a strength for us. Players who come in perform well at the level and the team march on.
“They need to feel that we’ve got the confidence in them to go into any game and we’re also at a stage of the season where their load is heavy and we’ve got to make sure we try and navigate that in the best way possible.”
Ivory Coast’s Premier League stars
Maxwel Cornet scored six goals in his first ten Premier League appearances, following his signing for Burnley in August 2021. This is the highest goal tally by a player for the club through their first ten games in the Premier League.
Between 2017 and 2021, Serge Aurier made 17 appearances at Wembley at club level. All of those games came while playing for Tottenham Hotspur, while he ended on the winning side in 14 of them (D2 L1).
England boss Gareth Southgate retains faith in ‘cult hero’ Harry Maguire
Gareth Southgate retains faith in “cult hero” Harry Maguire’s ability to compete at the highest level as the under-fire Manchester United captain prepares to line up in Tuesday’s friendly against Ivory Coast.
The Three Lions kicked off World Cup preparations with a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win in Saturday’s friendly against Switzerland at Wembley, where they return to take on non-European opposition for the first time since 2018.
Southgate is planning widespread changes as England and Ivory Coast meet in a senior international for the first time, with Maguire among those set to start under the arch.
England boss Gareth Southgate retains faith in ‘cult hero’ Harry Maguire
Southgate is planning widespread changes for Tuesday’s friendly against Ivory Coast at Wembley as the Three Lions continue World Cup preparations
Kane leading the way
Harry Kane has scored three goals in his two previous England matches against African nations, scoring against Nigeria in a friendly and a brace against Tunisia in June 2018.
Only Gary Lineker (four in six games) has more goals against African nations for the Three Lions.
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