Ivory Coast officially call up Manchester United star for AFCON 2025

The Africa Cup of Nations is just around the corner, with Morocco taking on Comoros in the opening game on 21st December 2025.

As such, Manchester United are preparing to lose Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui for up to a month during a vital Premier League period.

Whilst Mbeumo’s official call-up came last week, today saw the Ivory Coast officially announce their team to defend their 2023 title.

It comes as no surprise that Amad Diallo has been included in the squad list, given his impressive run of form over the last year under Ruben Amorim.

However, one surprise came in the recall of former Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha who has been left out of the Ivory Coast’s plans since 2023.

The 33-year-old came through the Crystal Palace academy back in 2010, and then had a series back-and-forth loans and transfers between The Eagles and Manchester United until 2015 when he returned permanently to Selhurst Park.

From there Zaha became a core part of the Palace side, making 458 appearances, scoring 90 goals and grabbing 54 assists for the club before leaving for good in 2023 to Galatasaray.

Since then the winger has grabbed 10 goals and five assists in 43 games for the Turkish giants before going on loan to Lyon and now to MLS side Charlotte.

With 10 goals and six assists in 35 games for Charlotte, the former Ivory Coast international has officially earned his spot back in the national team, failing to be a part of the AFCON-winning side in 2023 despite helping them qualify in 2022.