The last time the two teams played each other in a senior National team competitive match was at AFCON 2012 which saw Zambia beating Ivory Coast on penalties to win the competition.
Since then Ivory Coast went on to win AFCON 2015 which ironically was the last time that Zambia Qualified for the competition.
Ivory Coast will however be looking to prepare adequately for AFCON 2023 and will likely treat most of their games seriously especially after they crashed out of AFCON 2021 after losing to Egypt in the Round of 16.
The Elephants will also face a Zambia side that will be motivated due to the fact that they will be the first team to play a competitive match at one of Ivory Coasts AFCON 2023 venues in Yamoussoukro.
Squad Availability
It will be an interesting match which will see Ivory Coast without a number of its players including Arsenal Star Nicholas Pepe who have all been ruled out for various reasons while its a full house for Zambia.
Head to head
This will be the first time the two teams will be meeting during an AFCON Qualifier but the sides have however met four times at the AFCON Proper with Zambia winning twice while Ivory Coast have only won once and the other match ended in a draw.
It’s definitely a match to look out for.
