Ex-Cyrstal Palace winger Wilfred Zaha and Hamed Junior Traore have been left out of Ivory Coast Africa Cup of Nations sqaud as former Arsenal player Nicolas Pepe makes his return.
French manager Jean-Louis Gasse listed two surprises with Idrissa Doumbia and Lazare Amani in his 27-man squad.
According to the Ivorian Federation, this selection will test against Sierra Leone in a friendly match on January 6, 2024, at the Laurent Pokou stadium before they take Guinea-Bissau in the tournament’s opener on January 13.
The Ivory Coast are set to compete against Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea in Group A next month.
French manager Jean-Louis Gasset has named Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller, Monaco defender Wilfried Singo, and midfielders Ibrahim Sangare of Premier League side Nottingham Forest, Seko Fofana (Al Nassr) and Franck Kesslie (Al Ahli).
Zaha, 31, made his Ivory Coast debut against Sweden in a friendly in Abu Dhabi on 8 January 2017 and was part of the squad in Cameroon 2021 AFCON.
The full final list of Côte d’Ivoire AFCON 2023 Squad
Goalkeepers: Fofana Yahia, Charles Folly, Badra Ali
Defenders: Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Chester Diallo, Ousmane Diomandé, Odilon Kossounou, Evan Ndicka, Ghislain Konan, Wilfried Singo
Midfielders: Ibrahim Sangaré, Doumbia Idrissa, Franck Kessié, Jean Michael Seri, Seko Fofana, Lazare Amani
Attackers: Sébastien Haller, Karim Konaté, Max-Alain Gradel, Jean-Philippe Krasso, Christian Kouamé, Jonathan Bamba, Oumar Diakité, Jérémie Boga, Nicolas Pépé, Simon Adingra.
Host @FIFCI_tweet named #Afcon2023 squad
— Alie Bittar (@bittar32) December 28, 2023
Wilfred Zaha and Hamed Junior Traore left out due to illness but Nicolas Pepe makes his return. #FSLMedia #FSLNews #SierraLeone #afcon2023withbittar pic.twitter.com/xasHV0LSbj
Connect with us @football_sierra on Facebook/ Instagram, Football Sierra Leone, the writer Alie Bittar, On Twitter @bittar32, AFCON News Ivory Coast.
