Diomande becomes the youngest African assist provider at a World Cup in the 21st century
Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
The third-round group stage clash at the World Cup between Curaçao and Côte d’Ivoire delivered a historic milestone for African football. The deadlock was broken as early as the 7th minute with a clinical strike from Ivorian forward Nicolas Pépé. Yet, the spotlight of the moment shone on the creator of the goal—young midfielder Yan Diomande.
Details: According to StatsFoot, by delivering this decisive pass, Diomande, at just 19 years and 7 months old, became the youngest African player to provide an assist at a World Cup in the last 32 years.
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The last time such young African footballers provided assists at the World Cup was back in the summer of 1994. In the legendary Cameroon vs Sweden match (June 20, 1994), this feat was achieved by two iconic Cameroonians—Rigobert Song (17 years and 11 months) and Marc-Vivien Foé (19 years and 1 month).
As of the 22nd minute, Côte d’Ivoire confidently controls the game, with the scoreboard unchanged—1:0 in favor of the Elephants.
Reminder: In the match against Côte d’Ivoire, Deniz Undav set a unique World Cup record.
