Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha called up by Ivory Coast for Africa Cup of Nations

Wilfried Zaha has been included in the Ivory Coast’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations next month – meaning the Crystal Palace attacker is set to miss a number of matches at the start of 2022.

Their first match is against Equatorial Guinea on January 12. That is likely to mean that Zaha will not be available for the Eagles’ FA Cup third round tie at Millwall just a few days earlier.

The Ivory Coast’s other fixtures in their group are Sierra Leone (January 12) and Algeria (January 20). They reached the last eight of the competition in 2019.

Zaha has been capped 21 times.

Palace could also lose the services of Jordan Ayew, Cheikhou Kouyate and Jeffrey Schlupp. The tournament runs from January 9 to February 6.