Côte d'Ivoire suffer blow ahead of AFCON

Sebastien Haller of FC Utrecht leaves the field injured during the Dutch Eredivisie match between NAC Breda and FC Utrecht at the Rat Verlegh Stadium on December 14, 2025, in Breda, Netherlands. Photo by ANP/Shutterstock (16104909ax)

by Staff Reporter

Monday Dec 15, 2025. 13:19

Côte d’Ivoire could be without a key figure at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco as Sebastien Haller was forced off the field due to injury on duty for Utrecht at the weekend.

The Elephants squad for their AFCON title defence was announced last Tuesday, with Haller named among the nation’s attacking options for the tournament.

Haller came off the bench for Utrecht in the club’s Eredivisie clash against NAC Breda on Sunday, taking the field in the 68th minute. However, his stint on the pitch did not last long as he was replaced by Dani de Wit in the 80th minute due to a reported hamstring injury.

Neither the club nor the Ivorian national team has issued any update regarding the player’s condition.

Haller missed the Elephants’ three group games at the last AFCON on home soil due to an ankle injury, but returned for the knockout stage of the competition. The striker featured in all of his side’s knockout fixtures and netted the winning goal in the final against Nigeria to hand his country its third AFCON title.

Now in his second season at Utrecht, Haller has notched three goals and one assist in 23 appearances for the Dutch club in all competitions this season.

His goal-scoring ability and leadership would be a sore loss for the Ivorian as they attempt to retain their continental crown.

By Nic Gleeson