Ivory Coast national team manager Patrice Beaumelle announced his 28-man squad ahead of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to run between 9 January 2022 and 6 February 2022 across five cities in Cameroon.

The 2015 edition champions are beginning their adventure in Group E, alongside title-holders Algeria, Sierra Leone, and Equatorial Guinea.

The Elephants’ squad traveling to Cameroon saw the return of Premier League star Wilfried Zaha who missed his national team’s World Cup qualifiers last camp.

Also read : WILFRIED ZAHA TURNS DOWN IVORY COAST NATIONAL TEAM CALL

The squad also included other world-class players such as Manchester United’s Eric Bailly, AC Milan’s Franck Kessié, and Arsenal’s Nicolas Pépé.

Ivory Coast squad for 2022 Afcon

Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (Wolkite Ketema, Ethiopia), Badra Ali Sangare (JDR Stars, South Africa), Abdoul Karim Cisse (Asec Mimosas, Ivory Coast), Ira Eliezer Tape (San Pedro, Ivory Coast).

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Villarreal, Spain), Eric Bailly (Manchester United, England), Willy Boly (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Wilfried Kanon (Pyramids, Egypt), Odilon Kossounou (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Simon Deli (Adana Demirspor, Turkey), Ghislain Konan (Reims, France).

Midfielders: Habib Maiga (Metz, France), Maxwel Cornet (Burnley, England), Serey Die (Sion, Switzerland), Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Lazio, Italy), Franck Kessie (AC Milan, Italy), Hamed Traore and Jeremie Boga (both Sassuolo, Italy), Max Gradel (Sivasspor, Turkey), Jean Michael Seri (Fulham, England).

Forwards: Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, England), Jean Evrard Kouassi (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal, England), Sebastien Haller (Ajax, Netherlands), Christian Kouame (Anderlecht, Belgium), Yohan Boli (Al-Rayyan, Qatar), Karim Konate (Asec Mimosas, Ivory Coast).