Diomande ends Ivory Coast losing streak in Oman before Sporting return | OneFootball

Ousmane Diomande has returned to represent the Ivory Coast national team, breaking a streak of seven consecutive call-ups without playing. The Sporting center-back started and played the full 90 minutes in the friendly held this Tuesday, November 18, against Oman, a match that marked the end of the testing phase during the FIFA break.

Ivory Coast won 2-0, with goals from Bayo in the ninth minute and Krasso in the 25th. This was the last preparation match before Emerse Faé announces the final squad list for AFCON 2025/26, a competition that will take place in Morocco between December 21, 2025, and January 18, 2026. Diomande joined the squad at the last minute due to Evan Ndicka’s injury.

After being an unused substitute against Saudi Arabia last Friday and starting against Oman, the defender now returns to Sporting – with whom he is close to renewing his contract – resuming training at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy.

This season, Ousmane Diomande – valued at 45 million euros – has played seven matches for Sporting: three in Liga Portugal Betclic, two in the Champions League, one in the Portuguese Cup, and another in the Super Cup. In total, the center-back has accumulated 497 minutes.

The green and white team will only return to the field on Saturday, November 22, against Marinhense. The match, part of the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup, against the Marinha Grande side, will be played at 18:00 in Alvalade.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.