Sebastien Haller will miss out on the Africa Cup of Nations with defending champions Ivory Coast after injuring his thigh during his last appearance for FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie. It remains an unfortunate season for the former Dortmund player.
At the Africa Cup of Nations two years ago, Sebastien Haller scored the decisive goal in the final in the Ivorian capital Abidjan, securing a 2-1 victory over Nigeria and the title for his home country. However, he will be missing from the Ivorian national team at the upcoming finals in January 2026: The former Frankfurt and Dortmund player injured his thigh while playing for FC Utrecht (1-1 in Breda) in the Eredivisie last weekend and will therefore miss the tournament in Morocco.
The 31-year-old initially traveled to the Ivorians’ training camp in Marbella, Spain, and was examined during the week. However, the association has now announced that Evann Guessand from Aston Villa will replace striker Haller in the squad. Guessand, who mainly plays in right midfield, was previously on national coach Emerse Faé’s reserve list.
Only one goal this season: Difficult season for Haller
For Haller, who only transferred permanently from BVB to FC Utrecht in the summer, this means another difficult season. In the second half of last season, he was on loan again to Utrecht, where he had first impressed between 2015 and 2017. Haller scored four goals in 16 Eredivisie games, but has only scored once in 21 competitive games in the league and Europa League this season.
In their mission to defend their title at the Africa Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast will face Gabon, who have another former Dortmund striker in their squad in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Cameroon in Group D. However, their first opponent will be Mozambique on Christmas Eve.
The German national team was originally scheduled to play a friendly against Côte d’Ivoire in March. However, the match was canceled because the DFB team was drawn in the same group as the Ivorians for the World Cup in the summer. Instead, Julian Nagelsmann’s team will now face Ghana.
