Sébastien Haller out of Africa Cup of Nations, Evann Guessand called up by Ivory Coast | OneFootball

Ivory Coast will defend their title without Sébastien Haller, who has withdrawn from the Africa Cup of Nations with a thigh injury. The tournament runs from 21 December to 18 January in Morocco.

The Ivorian football federation announced on Friday that the striker was ruled out after suffering a thigh injury on Sunday 14 December while playing for FC Utrecht. Aston Villa forward Evann Guessand, initially on standby, has been called up as his replacement. Guessand has 15 caps and 2 goals.

It came during his final club appearance before the squad were due to depart for the tournament.

In the last edition, Haller scored the winner against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the semi-finals, a 1-0 victory, then netted in the 2-1 final against Nigeria.

He has 34 caps and 11 goals for the national team. He was injured before AFCON 2023 but was still called up by Jean-Louis Gasset, and contributed late after a race to recover.

Source: L'Équipe