Scotland fell 1-0 to Ivory Coast at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool two nights ago, Nicolas Pépé’s 12th-minute finish delivering the friendly win for D. Belmadi’s visitors. A. McLeish saw his team dictate long spells, firing 14 attempts, yet they closed the window still searching for a cutting edge ahead of the summer programme.
McLeish opened with a back three of John Souttar, Dominic Hyam and Kieran Tierney, pushing Ross McCrorie and Andrew Robertson high while Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour set the tempo. The structure produced territory without penetration, with Wilfried Singo and Odilon Kossounou repeatedly squeezing space around George Hirst and Robertson. At the other end, Alban Lafont justified his recall by turning away four efforts.
Ivory Coast’s midfield triangle of Bazoumana Touré, Christ Inao Oulaï and Franck Kessié smothered Scotland’s passing lanes, forcing Ryan Christie to drop deeper in search of combinations. McLeish reacted at the break, introducing Scott Bain for Liam Kelly and Lewis Ferguson for McTominay, and later sent on Nathan Patterson in the 62nd minute to add width. Belmadi immediately replaced Ghislain Konan with Guéla Doué and refreshed his attack on 69 minutes through Simon Adingra and Amad Diallo.
Scotland kept the pressure on as John McGinn and Kenny McLean arrived on 70 minutes, followed by Lyndon Dykes and Tommy Conway seven minutes later. Crosses and cut-backs piled up, but Kossounou and substitute Emmanuel Agbadou dominated the penalty area while Evann Guessand, on for Elye Wahi, ran the channels to relieve pressure. Ferguson completed 22 of 25 passes, Gilmour hit 49 of 56, and Robertson created two key chances, yet none of Scotland’s four shots on target beat Lafont.
Attention now turns to Scotland’s June fixtures, where sharper finishing is essential if McLeish is to build momentum before competitive qualifiers. Ivory Coast, meanwhile, return to Abidjan buoyed by the discipline shown by Singo, Kossounou and the match-winner Pépé.
Key stats
- Shots on target: Scotland 4, Ivory Coast 3
- Total shots: Scotland 14, Ivory Coast 12
- Possession: Scotland 48 percent, Ivory Coast 52 percent
- Corner kicks: Scotland 7, Ivory Coast 5
- Accurate passes: Scotland 435 of 488, Ivory Coast 501 of 556
For more from this international window, see Netherlands vs Ecuador and Austria vs South Korea.
