Substitute Amad Diallo decided that waiting until the 90th minute was the most dramatic possible time to score, handing Côte d’Ivoire a 1-0 win over Ecuador in their Group E opener.

Diallo’s first-time strike off Wilfried Singo’s cross gave the Ivorians their first World Cup victory against South American opposition and ended Ecuador’s unbeaten run at 19 matches. Because of course it did.

The goal also put a tidy little bow on 19-year-old Yan Diomande’s dazzling performance, pulling the Elephants level on points with a Germany side that had earlier thumped Curacao 7-1. You know, just a casual Tuesday.

The Ivorians - who boast the youngest squad at this World Cup - looked like they were running out of ideas until Singo found space surging up the right from his defensive post. His cross reached Diallo in stride, with the 23-year-old Manchester United player deftly guiding it into the bottom left corner, giving the West Africans a dream start to their first World Cup finals appearance since 2014.

Ecuador’s best first-half chances came courtesy of Côte d’Ivoire’s casual defending. John Yeboah and Alan Minda struck the bar in the 23rd and 30th minutes, respectively, because that’s just how these things go.

But Côte d’Ivoire looked better in possession, with Diomande terrorizing Ecuador’s left side. In the 35th minute, he picked up the ball at midfield, beat Piero Hincapié down the line, and dragged a cross into the path of Nicolas Pépé’s late run to the penalty spot. Pépé tried to sneak a second touch onto his favoured left foot, but his effort was ultimately blocked. So close, yet so far.

In first-half stoppage time, Singo nearly turned a spectacular bicycle kick on frame from Guéla Doué’s cross. Almost.

Côte d’Ivoire started well after the break, but in the 68th minute, a well-struck effort from Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plata forced Yahia Fofana into a comfortable save. Nothing to see there.

Before that, it was more of Diomande. In the 52nd minute, his cross met Elye Wahi’s angling run, but Wahi’s first-time strike skimmed the crossbar. And moments after switching to the left flank following two Côte d’Ivoire changes in the 56th minute, he dribbled between Yeboah, Alan Franco, and Moises Caicedo on his way into the box before firing high. Drama, thy name is Diomande.

In a match played within driving distance of more than 600,000 Ecuadorian Americans estimated to live in New York and New Jersey, La Tricolor fans dominated the atmosphere but left disappointed. Because that’s soccer, folks.