Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae says “good listener” Yan Diomande is poised to make a decision about his future after the 19-year-old winger shone during the win over Ecuador on his World Cup debut.
Diomande has been linked with a host of clubs after a hugely impressive first season with Leipzig, saying last week that he has always “loved” Paris Saint-Germain and revealing in February that his father supports Liverpool.
“It’s really easy to work with a player like Yan,” said Fae, whose side won their first match of the finals courtesy of a 90th-minute goal by Manchester United livewire Amad Diallo in Philadelphia.
“First of all because he is gifted, because he is capable of winning a match for us at any moment. He poses a lot of problems for his opponents.
“He had [Piero] Hincapie – a Champions League finalist who had an extraordinary season with Arsenal – facing him and he managed to put a player like Hincapie in difficulty. So we are really happy.”
World Cup 2026: Diomande to make ‘best decision’ on transfer
Winger Diomande joined Leipzig from Leganes on a five-year deal for around £17.3m in July 2025 and contributed a combined 20 goals and assists in his debut season in the Bundesliga.
“When we were in France for our preparations, the journalists were telling me that he was going to sign with PSG,” said Fae.
“Today, I arrived in the United States and they tell me he is going to sign with Liverpool, so we’ll see.
“I think he is very focused on the World Cup first and then, after that, he will make the best decision for the rest of his career.”
Yan Diomande: What winger offers Liverpool and PSG
As well as those direct goal contributions, Diomande won 75 more duels than anyone else in last season’s Bundesliga and comfortably led the way in successful dribbles per match, as well as recording the fifth-highest speed of any player involved.
“On top of being talented, he is a young player who still has a good margin for improvement,” added Fae.
“He is a kid who works hard, who gets along well with the group, who jokes with everyone. He is a very good listener who listens closely to the technical staff.
“As soon as we give him advice, he listens. He tries to do what we ask of him, to do what we tell him.”
Diomande created the most chances, made the most progressive carries and had the most touches in the opposition box of any player in Ivory Coast’s victory. Here are some of his key stats from CBS Sports.
| Chances Created | 5 |
| Touches in opposition box | 12 |
| Successful dribbles | 4 |
| Progressive carries | 11 |
| Ground duels won | 11/15 |
World Cup 2026: Diomande on Ivory Coast vs Ecuador
Diomande said that The Elephants, who are at the finals for the first time since 2014 and face Germany on Saturday in Toronto (21:00 BST), had arrived at the finals with “a winning mentality”.
“It’s not just about participating,” he explained. “We came to represent our families, the people we love and many millions of citizens.
“That’s the reason why we try to give everything: for them. It’s not just about us; we don’t play just for ourselves.
“We had supporters who were magnificent, who pushed us until the very end. Thanks to them, we were able to win.
“As you keep winning, you gain confidence. That’s the mentality we have: we want to win, we want to win, we want to win. We only want to win.”
Amad Diallo: Why Manchester United star started on bench
Fae said Diallo did not start because of a “small” fitness issue in training and Ivory Coast’s tactical focus on drawing out Ecuador’s defenders before targeting the space behind.
The 23-year-old also scored a late winner in his country’s eye-catching 2-1 friendly win over France on June 4.
“We didn’t put our fate at the feet of Amad Diallo,” explained Fae. “Amad Diallo is part of a collective.
“During the qualification phases, we had a lot of issues with efficiency. We had a lot of opportunities, but we weren’t scoring.
“Today, thank god, we were much more pragmatic offensively. Granted, against France and against Ecuador, it was Amad who scored.
“It’s good for the group, it’s good for him, but we have other players who are also capable of scoring, other players who bring the ball all the way to the box so that Amad can score, too.
“To say that we put all our victories down to Amad is a bit of an exaggeration and a bit unfair. We have a very, very good collective, whether defensively or even in midfield.”
Ecuador only conceded five goals in 18 qualifying matches, advancing automatically behind Argentina and ahead of nations including Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay.
“The fact that we have attacking players capable of making a difference at any moment made them drop back,” said Fae.
“As soon as Yannick or Amad touched the ball, [Ecuador dropped] back, they [defended] in pairs. We knew how to rebalance things in the second half and stayed focused to firstly not concede in the first half, and then score before the end.
“In the first half, we were a bit tense because it’s the first World Cup for all of our players. For the 26 selected players, it’s their first World Cup, so we had a bit of tension, hesitation and a bit of fear of taking risks.
“In the second half, we came back with much more open intentions… [and] we made fewer individual mistakes.”
World Cup 2026: Ivory Coast vs Germany ‘difficult’
Germany overcame minnows Curacao’s equaliser to win their opener 7-1 in Houston on Sunday. “They have a lot of experience at the World Cup,” observed Fae.
“They have won it several times, they have players who play at the biggest European clubs. They have an attacking power that is not negligible.
“That said, we are going to go there to win and to secure our qualification as early as the second matchday, without any complexity.
“We are going to look them straight in the eye and try to put our football in place. We have qualities too, so we are going to play to our strengths.”
