Ivory Coast vs. Zambia: Match Preview, Odds & Predictions

The reigning champions, Ivory Coast, will face Zambia at Stade de la Paix on Friday night in the first match of their qualification campaign for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Each team will compete against Sierra Leone and Chad in Group G of the qualifying round for a spot in next year's final in Morocco.

Previous Matches and head-to-head

After almost being eliminated in the group stage on home territory in 2023, Ivory Coast came back to win a third championship and finally break their nine-year continental dominance drought at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Emerse Fae, a 40-year-old hired during the tournament, became the first manager to win an international tournament despite being forced into the thick of things after Jean-Louis Gasset's departure in the middle of the championship.

Since their AFCON final victory over Nigeria, Les Elephants have played in friendlies against Uruguay and Benin Republic. In World Cup qualifiers against Gabon and Kenya, they have collected four points out of a possible six.

Ivory Coast's fortunes have turned around after Gasset was fired as manager, thanks to Fae's arrival. The Ivorian national team is now riding a wave of eight consecutive victories, dating back to a 4-0 humiliation by Equatorial Guinea.

Ivory Coast, who are in first place in their World Cup qualifying group, will now want to become the first side to win back-to-back championships since Egypt by getting off to a strong start in the AFCON qualifiers.

When they defeated Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout to win the 2012 AFCON, Zambia pulled off one of the greatest shocks in African football history.

But since then, Chipolopolo has struggled on the continental front, going winless in two consecutive AFCON tournaments (in 2013 and 2015) and then going missing three consecutive tournaments (from 2017 to 2021).

After finishing second in the qualifiers, Avram Grant's squad competed in the most recent AFCON. However, they were eliminated early again after collecting only two points in three games.

All six of Zambia's subsequent matches have ended in defeat, including all three of their most recent encounters in the June COSAFA Cup group stages.

The visitors, who haven't won a competitive match since November 2023, face a formidable challenge on Friday as they seek retribution for their 3-0 loss in the last meeting.

Ivory Coast x Zambia Team News

Mario Dorgeles and Benie Traore were both summoned to senior international duty for the first time, so they will both be eager to make their debuts in the coming days.

Even though he has more appearances for the national team than any other current player (93), defender Serge Aurier has been benched since the Africa Cup of Nations.

Injuries have sidelined Nicolas Pepe, and Wilfried Zaha isn't fully fit for the Ligue 1 team he just joined since he didn't play for more than a month before moving to Lyon.

The attacker, Fashion Sakala, who has scored thirteen goals in fourteen matches, is waiting for his first international debut since January and is, therefore, a surprising omission for Zambia.

Leicester City's star player, Patson Daka, has missed all four of his team's games this season with an ankle injury. Therefore, he will not be able to play for the away team.

Our Predictions

Ivory Coast to win @1.50 on Sky247.ng

In their match against the current African champions, Zambia will likely continue their dismal recent play.

We expect Ivory Coast to win in a somewhat simple fashion after 90 minutes.

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