Wilfried Zaha set up the winner on his first international appearance for Ivory Coast since turning his back on England.
The Crystal Palace winger has two senior England caps to his name, having played against Sweden in November 2012 and Scotland the following year.
But as both matches were friendlies Zaha could switch allegiance to his country of birth, with Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate's bid to persuade him to backtrack on his decision falling on deaf ears.
The 24-year-old is instead heading to the African Nations Cup and made his Ivory Coast debut in a pre-tournament friendly against Sweden on Sunday.
Wilfried Kanon's own goal was cancelled out just before half-time by Serge N'Guessan, before Zaha's excellent cross was headed in by Giovanni Sio to secure the Elephants a 2-1 win in Abu Dhabi.
The Ivory Coast are due to face Uganda in a friendly on Wednesday, before getting their African Nations Cup campaign under way against Togo on Jan. 16.