Villarreal winger Nicolas Pepe, formerly of Arsenal, scored the only goal after just 12 minutes as the Elephants edged the Scots. Scotland were caught out by a rapid Ivorian counter-attack, with Pepe reacting quickest to tap in after Elye Wahi’s strike rebounded off the post.
Scotland showed flickers throughout, edging in shots on target, but were again undone by a lack of cutting edge in the final third. Scott McTominay forced a save from Alban Lafont as they searched for a response, while Ipswich’s George Hirst came closest after the break with a near-post header that the goalkeeper kept out.
Ivory Coast, who thrashed South Korea 4-0 at the weekend, were content to defend their lead for much of the second half, though Manchester United’s Amad Diallo tested Scott Bain late on and Simon Adingra struck the post during a late flurry.
The result follows Scotland’s 1-0 defeat by Japan on Saturday and raises concerns over their attacking output ahead of their first World Cup in 28 years.