Crystal Palace’s on-loan forward Evann Guessand has been selected in the Ivory Coast squad for the 2026 World Cup. Guessand is currently nursing an injury but is back in light training for Palace.
Crystal Palace’s on-loan forward Evann Guessand has been selected for the 2026 World Cup by the Ivory Coast.
Just 27 days short of the global showpiece getting underway, teams are beginning to announce their squads.
After Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Philippe Mateta were called into the France squad on Thursday night, the latest Palace international call-up sees Guessand named in the Ivory Coast squad.
Guessand joined Palace in January, on loan from Aston Villa after he struggled to make things happen at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s loss is very much Palace’s gain, though, with the Ivorian immediately impressing and forcing his way into the starting XI alongside Ismaila Sarr.
A knee injury has seen him miss nine matches now for Palace, after sustaining it in early April, but after recovering quicker than expected, there is a chance he could feature in the squad for the match against Brentford on Sunday.
Guessand has two goals and an assist in his 11 matches for Palace, which included a goal in the first leg against Zrinjski in the Conference League play-off second leg.
His injury sustained in the first leg against Fiorentina, meant he missed both legs of the semi-final triumph against Shakhtar.
But Oliver Glasner said he hoped he would be back in time for the Conference League final and it appears that may well be the case.
Guessand is named as one of the exciting members of the Ivory Coast attack, with star man Yan Diomande attracting serious interest to be Mo Salah’s replacement at Liverpool, as Bayern Munich also eagerly watch on.
Guessand, who played all of his youth football for France before switching to the Ivory Coast at senior level, has 21 caps for his country, scoring four goals.
The 24-year-old scored his most recent international goal in the 4-0 thrashing of South Korea in March, while he came off the bench in the 1-0 win over Scotland.
He is one of four Premier League players included in the squad, alongside Emmanuel Agbadou of Wolves, Nottingham Forest’s Ibraham Sangare and Sunderland winger Simon Adingra.
Ivory Coast face Ecuador on June 15 in their World Cup opener in Philadelphia, before travelling to Toronto to take on Germany on June 20.
They then return back to Philadelphia for their final group match against Curacao on June 25.
They face France in a pre-World Cup friendly on June 4.
It is the fourth time they have qualified for the World Cup and first since 2014.
They have never previously got out of the group stage and so will be hoping they can do so for the first time in their history this summer.