Côte d'Ivoire: Renard names 25 Elephants to face Gambia
Hervé Renard has named a 25-man squad with four new faces, including Oumar Solet, and Amad Diallo back. The Elephants host Gambia in Bouaké on 12 November, level on points at the top of Group C.
Ballon Viral · Published · Updated
Hervé Renard named his squad on Thursday 5 November in Abidjan. For the double header against Gambia, matchdays three and four of 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, the Côte d'Ivoire coach picked 25 players. The group includes four newcomers, three returning players including Amad Diallo, and a few notable absences. The stakes are clear: Côte d'Ivoire and Gambia are level at the top of Group C with six points each.
Four new faces and Amad Diallo's return
The four players called up to the senior team for the first time are defenders Oumar Solet and Abdoul Ouattara and midfielders Abdoulaye Kanté and Yaya Kader Fofana. Solet has drawn the most attention. The Udinese centre-back, formerly of Lyon and RB Salzburg, played for France at youth level for years, with 22 caps from the under-17s to the under-20s. He has now chosen the Elephants, and Renard brings him straight into a defence that already includes Evan Ndicka, Ousmane Diomandé and Emmanuel Agbadou.
Amad Diallo returns after missing the September camp through injury. The winger came off hurt for his club on 31 October, but the coach judged him fit. Hassane Kamara and Martial Godo are also back in the group.
On the other hand, Odilon Kossounou and Guéla Doué, both in the last squad, have not been selected. Ghislain Konan is out with a knee injury. Several key figures of recent years, such as Sébastien Haller, Simon Adingra, Seko Fofana and Wilfried Singo, are also missing from the list.
The full 25-man squad
- Goalkeepers: Yahia Fofana, Alban Lafont, Mohamed Koné.
- Defenders: Luck Zogbé, Abdoul Ouattara, Evan Ndicka, Oumar Solet, Ousmane Diomandé, Emmanuel Agbadou, Hassane Kamara, Kassoum Ouattara.
- Midfielders: Franck Kessié, Ibrahim Sangaré, Christ Inao, Malick Yalcouyé, Patrick Zabi, Abdoulaye Kanté, Yaya Kader Fofana.
- Forwards: Amad Diallo, Nicolas Pépé, Bazoumana Touré, Elye Wahi, Yoann Bonny, Martial Godo, Yan Diomandé.
The attack includes Yan Diomandé, one of the ten finalists for the Kopa Trophy presented at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London on 26 October. The young winger has become one of the faces of the new generation Renard wants to build around.
A perfect start under Renard
Renard returned to the Ivorian bench in August, eleven years after leading the country to the 2015 AFCON title. The Ivorian Football Federation had decided not to extend Emerse Faé, whose contract expired at the end of July. The French coach remains the only manager to have won the Africa Cup of Nations with two different countries, Zambia in 2012 and Côte d'Ivoire in 2015.
His start has been flawless. On 24 September in Bouaké, the Elephants beat Ghana 2-0 with a goal from Malick Yalcouyé and a Franck Kessié penalty. Five days later, at the Félix-Houphouët-Boigny stadium in Abidjan, they beat Somalia by the same score. The second goal came very late, in stoppage time, from Bazoumana Touré after a move started by Yan Diomandé. Six points, four goals scored and none conceded: the numbers are perfect, even if the Somalia game was harder work than expected.
