Ivory Coast head coach Patrice Beaumelle named a 30-man squad including free agent Serge Aurier for the back-to-back clash awaiting Elephants in October for the matchday 3 and 4 of the FIFA Qatar World Cup qualifiers.
The former Tottenham star’s presence in this list surprises some, but others say he should be there as he is one of the most experienced players in the locker room and still hold the national team armband.
Arsenal winger Nicolas Pépé is back in the squad as well as Crystal Palace ace Wilfried Zaha. So is Trabzonspor’s Gervinho who all missed the first two games of Ivory Coast in September.
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Ajax Amsterdam’s goal scoring machine Sébastien Haller is called up as expected after his brilliant brace against Cameroon on matchday 2 of these World Cup African qualifiers.
His attack mate Jean Evrard Kouassi is also present as well as other key figures of the team such as Max Alain Gradel and wantaway AC Milan midfielder Franck Késsié.
Ivory Coast will make a trip to Orlando Pirates Stadium (Johannesburg, South Africa) to face take on Malawi before hosting them for the return leg in Cotonou, Benin due to the works ongoing in their stadiums as they prepare to host the AFCON 2023.
Below is Ivory Coast’s 30-man squad :
Goalkeepers : Sylvain Gbohouo, Sangaré Badra Ali, Cisse Karim.
Defenders : Willy Boli ( Wolver), Serge Aurier (sans club), Éric Bailly ( Manchester United) , Sinaly Diomande ( Lyon), Hassane Kamara ( OGC Nice), Wilfried Singo ( Torino), Emmanuel Agbadou ( KA Eupen), Maxwel Cornet ( Burnley), Odilon Kossonou ( Bayer Leverkusen), Ghislain Konan ( Reims).
Midfielders : Serey Die Geoffroy ( FC Sion), Franck Kessie ( Milan AC), Seri Jean-Michaël ( Fulham), Digbo Habib Maiga ( Metz), AKpa Akpro Jean-Daniel ( Lazio), Serge Aka (Atlay SK), Ibrahim Sangaré ( PSV Eindhoven), Boga Jérémie ( Sassuolo), Traoré Hamed Junior ( Sassuolo).
Forwards : Jean-Evrard Kouassi ( Wuhan), Sébastien Haller (Ajax), Gervinho ( Trabzonspor), Wilfried Zaha ( Crystal Palace), Nicolas Pépé ( Arsenal), Max Gradel ( Sivasspor), Christian Kouame ( Anderlecht) 30-Lago Junior ( Majorque).