Ivory Coast leave Zaha out of African Cup of Nations squad

Wilfried Zaha, who made the move to Turkey from Crystal Palace during the offseason, has participated in only two friendly matches for Ivory Coast this year. As a result, he was unable to take part in their Cup of Nations qualifiers and the first round of World Cup qualifying last month.

Gasset has selected several new additions to the squad, including Serge Aurier from Nottingham Forest, Ibrahim Sangare from Nottingham Forest, Willy Boly from Nottingham Forest, Franck Kessie from Al Ahli, and Nicolas Pepe from Trapzonspor, who is returning after a year's absence.

Chester Diallo from Hajduk Split has received his first call-up, while Lazare Amani from Union Saint Gilloise has been included in the squad for the second time.

The hosts, who will face Guinea Bissau in the tournament's opening match on January 13th, also have Sebastien Haller from Borussia Dortmund and Karim Konate from RB Salzburg among their forwards. They will also compete against Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea in Group A.

Here is the Ivory Coast squad:

Goalkeepers: Yahia Fofana (Angers SCO), Badra Ali Sangare (Sekhukhune United), Charles Folly (ASEC Mimosas)

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Nottingham Forest), Wilfried Singo (AS Monaco), Evan Ndicka (AS Roma), Ousmane Diomande (Sporting CP), Odilon Kossonou (Bayer Leverkusen), Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest), Ghislain Konan (Al-Feyha), Chester Diallo (Hajduk Split)

Midfielders: Idrissa Doumbia (Al-Ahli Doha), Franck Kessie (Al-Ahli), Ibrahim Sangare (Nottingham Forest), Seko Fofana (Al-Nassr), Jean Michael Seri (Hull City), Lazare Amani (Union Saint Gilloise)

Forwards: Nicolas Pepe (Trapzonspor), Max-Alain Gradel (Gaziantep), Simon Adingra (Brighton & Hove Albion), Karim Konate (RB Salzburg), Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund), Oumar Diakite (Stade Reims), Jonathan Bamba (Celta Vigo), Jeremie Boga (OGC Nice), Christian Kouame (Fiorentina), Jean-Philippe Krasso (Red Star Belgrade).