Ivory Coast will battle it out with Morocco in an international friendly match at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 7:00 pm CAT.
CURRENT FORM
The Elephants wrapped up their 2023 Afcon qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory over a stubborn Lesotho side at home on September 9 as they returned to winning ways.
Ivory Coast, who are set to host the 2023 Afcon finals between January and February 2024, have won three of their last four matches across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Morocco snapped their three-match winless run across all competitions when they secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Burkina Fason in France on 12 September.
The Atlas Lions are winless in their last four away matches and they will face Liberia at home on 17 October in what will be their final match in the 2023 Afcon qualifiers.
TEAM NEWS
Ivory Coast have been sweating over the fitness of their captain and right-back Serge Aurier who joined the team's camp this week while carrying an injury.
Morocco, on the other hand, are most likely to be without the injured Hakim Ziyech, but the left-footed playmaker traveled with the team to Ivory Coast.
WHAT WAS SAID?
Ivorian Football Federation statement:
"Out of the 25 selected, 22 took part in the session. Among them, Seko Fofana, Ousmane Diomandé, Wilfried Zaha, Evan Ndicka, Odilon Kossonou, Simon Adingra and Yayia Fofana," a statement read on Tuesday.
"Three players are unavailable, Serge Aurier is injured, Ghislain Konan is ill and Christian Kouamé joined the group on Tuesday night."
Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk:
“Hakim [Ziyech] is suffering from a slight pain in his left knee," Buruk said on Bladna 24.
"These players are not accustomed to the rhythm of consecutive matches due to not playing for a long time, so we do not want to risk him.
“This type of player cannot play at a high pace. After playing three matches he suffered an injury. I hope he will be ready after the international break.”
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This will be the 22nd meeting between Ivory Coast and Morocco across all competitions.
The two teams have recorded seven wins each, while seven matches ended in draws.
Their last meeting ended in a 1-0 win in favour of Morocco in a 2019 Afcon group D match played in Egypt on 28 June 2019.