PHILADELPHIA — In his first World Cup match, 19-year-old Yan Diomande announced himself to the world, and so did his youthful Ivory Coast side in a 1-0 victory over Ecuador to open their World Cup campaign on Sunday.

The RB Leipzig wide man and reigning Bundesliga Rookie of the Season was Man of the Match in the Group E encounter, no small feat against an opponent that entered with 19 matches unbeaten, including 11 in the gauntlet of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.

“We know all about Yan Diomande,” said his manager Emerse Fae. “He’s an impactful player. He’s hard to play for opponents. He delivered an excellent match.”

While Diomande’s brilliant service in the first half and dribbling in the second didn’t lead to the decisive goal — even after Amad Diallo’s historic 90th-minute winner — it was hard not to think about what could be ahead for a player valued at about $105 million, according to the website Transfermarkt.

“He’s a great striker and his added value is very clear,” said fellow Ivorian forward Elye Wahi. “We’re very happy for the (award) he notched up.”

Despite appearing only twice in World Cup qualifying for “Les Elephants,” Fae entrusted Diomande with a start on the right flank in the Ivory Coast’s first World Cup match since 2014 and first World Cup victory against South American opposition.

It quickly became clear why, as he terrorized Ecuador’s back line and Arsenal fullback Piero Hincapie in particular over the opening 45 minutes.

Diomande’s best sequence in that role came on 35 minutes, when he picked up a ball at midfield, quickly rounded Hincapie and sent in a cross that Nicolas Pepe couldn’t finish after attempting a second touch to get the ball on his favored left boot.

After switching to the left following Diallo’s 56th-minute insertion, he tried to solve Ecuador’s stubborn rear guard himself.

In the 58th minute, he somehow split John Yeboah, Alan Franco and Moises Caicedo to enter the left side of the penalty area before firing high.

He nearly achieved the feat again in the late stages, before the Ivorians finally took advantage of the attention he commanded, with Wilfried Singo surging up the opposite flank to send in a low cross and Diallo dispatching a clinical finish.

–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media

Wyatt Langford and Kyle Higashioka homered in back-to-back innings to start the game, and the visiting Texas Rangers avoided a three-game series sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox with a 6-4 win on Sunday night.

The Rangers tagged Boston starter Connelly Early (5-5) for six runs and 11 hits through the first 4 2/3 innings and totaled 13 knocks in the game.

Beyond the long balls, Brandon Nimmo (2-for-5) hit a clutch two-RBI double in the fourth inning, while Justin Foscue went 3-for-3 with a run scored. Higashioka and Cody Freeman also had multiple hits.

The early offense stood tall as Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi (6-7) pitched seven innings, striking out six while working around three runs and six hits.

Willson Contreras homered twice on his 3-for-4 night and Masataka Yoshida went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored to lead the Red Sox, who have lost five of their last seven games.

With the Tartan Army filling the Fenway Park stands after Scotland’s World Cup win in Foxborough, Mass., on Saturday, Early was tagged for a first-pitch leadoff home run for a second consecutive start. Langford crushed a solo shot completely over the Green Monster and out of the ballpark to lift Texas to an immediate 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The Rangers busted open the score with three straight hits to start the second. After Foscue and Cody Freeman stung back-to-back singles to center, Higashioka drove them both home with a three-run shot that just cleared the left-field wall.

After Eovaldi set down his former team 1-2-3 to start the game, Contreras went deep to left to get Boston on the scoreboard at 4-1. The inning continued with Caleb Durbin drawing a one-out walk and Isiah Kiner-Falefa knocking an infield single over second base. After a wild pitch moved both into scoring position, Marcelo Mayer’s RBI grounder made it a two-run game.

Early escaped a two-on jam without any damage in the third, but Texas extended its lead in the following frame. Alejandro Osuna started the rally with a one-out single, then back-to-back walks preceded Nimmo’s key double high off the Monster.

While Greg Weissert (1 1/3 innings), Ryan Watson (two innings) and Tommy Kahnle (one inning) teamed up for scoreless relief, Boston inched closer when Contreras knocked another solo shot out to deep left with two outs in the sixth, making it a 6-3 game.

In the eighth, Yoshida’s one-out knock got the Sox started, and he scored on Abreu’s liner to right two batters later.

Contreras followed with his third hit, but Jacob Latz entered to induce an inning-ending grounder from Jarren Duran before dealing a scoreless ninth to finalize his 11th save.

–Field Level Media

On a day a trio of teams booked playoff spots and another three were eliminated at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major in Germany, it was hard to find a team more relieved at the end of Sunday’s Stage 3 action than Team Falcons.

Unless you’re looking at The MongolZ.

Team Vitality and Aurora Gaming joined Falcons in advancing to the playoffs out of the Round 4 high matches, while Monte — who fell to MongolZ — was eliminated in the low matches, along with MOUZ and Legacy.

At the start of Stage 3, 16 teams were still standing at the Counter-Strike 2 tournament that began with 32 entrants, competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool with the grand final scheduled for June 21. The champion receives $500,000.

Stage 3 utilizes a Swiss System format and all matches are best-of-three. The top eight finishers will proceed to the playoffs next week while the bottom three will be eliminated.

Falcons won a marathon third map, needing two overtimes to down Natus Vincere 2-1 to book a spot in the playoffs. After Falcons topped Natus Vincere 13-3 on Dust II, they lost 13-7 on Mirage. After the teams were tied 12-12 at the end of regulation on Anubis, they again were even at 15-15 at the end of the first overtime. Falcons dominated the second extra frame, outscoring Natus Vincere 4-1 in the second OT to win the map 19-16.

Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led the way for the Falcons with 57 kills and a plus-21 kill-death differential. Natus Vincere’s Mihai “iM” Ivan of Romania also posted 57 kills in the loss.

In the biggest blowout of the day, Aurora handled 9z Team 2-0, winning 13-1 on Nuke and 13-5 on Dust II. Caner “soulfly” Kesici led all-Turkish Aurora with 34 kills and a plus-18. Argentina’s Luciano “luchov” Herrera posted a team-high 20 kills in the loss.

In the third high match, Vitality took Overpass 13-8 and Nuke 13-11 to sweep BetBoom Team. Despite the short match, France’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut tallied 53 kills and a plus-19 in the win. BetBoom, made up entirely of Russian players, was led by Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov’s 36 kills.

As for MongolZ, they sat one map from elimination after dropping Nuke 13-9 to Monte. But they responded with a 13-7 win on Inferno and 13-11 win on Dust II to survive and send Monte home.

FUT Esports beat MOUZ 13-11 on Ancient before dropping Nuke 13-10. FUT emerged in the winner-take-all final map with a 13-7 win on Mirage. The final low match of the day provided the round’s only sweep, with G2 Esports beating Legacy 13-7 on Dust II and 13-4 on Overpass.

Monday will see the six remaining teams play for the final three available playoff spots in a trio of elimination matches.

Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major

Monday’s schedule

–9z Team vs. The MongolZ

–BetBoom Team vs. FUT Esports

–Natus Vincere vs. G2 Esports

Prize Pool

1. $500,000

2. $170,000

3-4. $80,000

5-8. $45,000

9-11. $15,000

12-14. $15,000 — MOUZ, Monte, Legacy

15-16. $15,000 — B8, PARIVISION

17-19. $10,000 — paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG

20-22. $10,000 — MIBR, M80, Astralis

23-24. $10,000 — GamerLegion, FlyQuest

25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid

28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC

31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports

–Field Level Media