Désiré Doué was particularly happy for his big brother Guéla at the final whistle of France-Côte d’Ivoire, Thursday evening in a preparation match for the 2026 World Cup. The attacking midfielder from PSG and the Blues, who did not come into play at Beaujoire, hugged his two-year junior (21 and 23 years old) for a long time before joining his French teammates to greet the Nantes public.
Guéla Doué was the hero of this victory for the Elephants against the 2022 world vice-champions led by Kylian Mbappé (1-2). After Rayan Cherki opened the score before half-time, the Ivorians equalized before the hour mark thanks to their right side on a superb action. A delivery from Elye Wahi allowed Nicolas Pépé to launch Doué on goal (53rd). The blue block was overwhelmed by the projections of Emerse Faé players on this action. The RC Strasbourg player was the decisive passer on the winning goal signed by Amad Diallo (84th).
Guéla Doué makes history in his own way as he is the fifth native of France to score against the French team. The two brothers were born in Angers – to a French mother and a father of Ivorian origin – and were both trained at Stade Rennais.
Guéla Doué after Wahbi Khazri in 2022
A certain Jacques Fatton was the first to score against his country of birth. He was a Franco-Swiss striker born in Doubs, who played for OL from 1954 to 1957, and scored four goals in four matches against the Tricolores. We must then advance to Djamel Belmadi’s goal during the infamous France-Algeria of October 2001 to have the second goal scored by a dual national. The former PSG and OM attacking midfielder was born in Champigny-sur-Marne, in the Paris region.
In recent years, Nicolas Pépé, native of Mantes-la-Jolie, shook Hugo Lloris’ nets during a victory for the Ivorians at the Stade Vélodrome in March 2022 (2-1). Finally, Wahbi Khazri achieved the feat of scoring in the World Cup against his country of birth. It was 2022 on the third day of the group stage in Qatar. The Corsican (born in Ajaccio and trained at SC Bastia) gave victory to Tunisia by deceiving Steve Mandanda.
Note that the French team begins its North American World Cup, on June 16 in New York, against a Senegal team led by several natives of France, like the three goalkeepers Édouard Mendy, Yehvann Diouf and Mory Diaw, the defenders Kalidou Koulibaly, Moussa Niakhaté, Mamadou Sarr and Antoine Mendy, the midfielder Pape Gueye and the offensive players Iliman Ndiaye and Ibrahim Mbaye.
