{"id":16831,"date":"2025-12-09T16:50:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T16:50:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:50:12","slug":"wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) \u2014 After two years away from the national team, Wilfried Zaha was recalled from Ivory Coast as a substitute on Tuesday. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">Defend Africa Cup of Nations title<\/span> The tournament starts this month.<\/p>\n<p>Zaha, 33, played in Major League Soccer this year. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">For Charlotte on loan<\/span> From Galatasaray \u2013 Included in the 26-player squad by coach Emers Faye. Leipzig&#8217;s Yann Diomande and Manchester United&#8217;s Amad Diallo are also in the squad.<\/p>\n<p>Ivory Coast are in a group with Mozambique, Cameroon and Gabon at the tournament, which will be held in Morocco from December 21st to January 18th.<\/p>\n<p>Zaha, a long-time Crystal Palace winger, has appeared in three AFCON competitions but was not selected to host the last edition in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Ivory Coast at the time <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">Director Jean-Louis Gasset fired<\/span> After struggling in the group stages, assistant Fae was promoted and led the team to the title with a brilliant knockout phase.<\/p>\n<p>Zaha was not recalled by Fahe for the subsequent World Cup qualifiers, but Ivory Coast still managed to advance through their group and advance to next year&#8217;s North American tournament. <\/p>\n<p>Zaha has made 33 appearances for the Ivory Coast national team, scoring five goals. Born in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, he grew up in London and played two friendlies for England before receiving permission from FIFA to change his international status.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP Soccer: <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/afcon-ivory-coast-squad-wilfried-zaha-992722394d8115247020284354e07b25\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) \u2014 After two years away from the national team, Wilfried Zaha was recalled from Ivory Coast as a substitute on Tuesday. Defend Africa Cup of Nations title The tournament starts this month. Zaha, 33, played in Major League Soccer this year. For Charlotte on loan From Galatasaray \u2013 Included in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) \u2014 After two years away from the national team, Wilfried Zaha was recalled from Ivory Coast as a substitute on Tuesday. Defend Africa Cup of Nations title The tournament starts this month. Zaha, 33, played in Major League Soccer this year. For Charlotte on loan From Galatasaray \u2013 Included in the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T16:50:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/\",\"name\":\"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff92Fa12F8a4ea41c0aca737b0f04038516192F88668d50a5f34be1adfd3b2bffdb0bb5.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-09T16:50:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff92Fa12F8a4ea41c0aca737b0f04038516192F88668d50a5f34be1adfd3b2bffdb0bb5.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff92Fa12F8a4ea41c0aca737b0f04038516192F88668d50a5f34be1adfd3b2bffdb0bb5.jpeg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\",\"name\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates","og_description":"ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) \u2014 After two years away from the national team, Wilfried Zaha was recalled from Ivory Coast as a substitute on Tuesday. Defend Africa Cup of Nations title The tournament starts this month. Zaha, 33, played in Major League Soccer this year. For Charlotte on loan From Galatasaray \u2013 Included in the","og_url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/","og_site_name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates","article_published_time":"2025-12-09T16:50:12+00:00","author":"admin_ok9yktt6","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin_ok9yktt6","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/","name":"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff92Fa12F8a4ea41c0aca737b0f04038516192F88668d50a5f34be1adfd3b2bffdb0bb5.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-12-09T16:50:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff92Fa12F8a4ea41c0aca737b0f04038516192F88668d50a5f34be1adfd3b2bffdb0bb5.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff92Fa12F8a4ea41c0aca737b0f04038516192F88668d50a5f34be1adfd3b2bffdb0bb5.jpeg","width":1440,"height":810},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/09\/wilfried-zaha-returns-to-ivory-coast-to-defend-african-cup-of-nations-title-ahead-of-2026-world-cup\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wilfried Zaha returns to Ivory Coast to defend African Cup of Nations title ahead of 2026 World Cup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/","name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates","description":"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9","name":"admin_ok9yktt6","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin_ok9yktt6"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/eplvip.com"],"url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}