Emmanuel Agbadou and Tawanda Chirewa have joined up with Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe ahead of Africa Cup of Nations 2025 getting underway over Christmas and the new year.
The duo are set to represent their countries in Morocco as the tournament gets underway on Sunday 21st December, before 51 games decide the two teams which will battle it out in the final at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on 18th January.
Twenty-four teams have been split into six groups of four, with Zimbabwe in Group B (alongside Egypt, South Africa and Angola) and Ivory Coast in Group F (alongside Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique).
Agbadou could have been going head-to-head with club teammate Jackson Tchatchoua, but the defender missed out on a call-up to the Cameroon side, as did Tolu Arokodare with Nigeria, while the calf injury sustained by Zimbabwe captain Marshall Munetsi in the defeat to Nottingham Forest is preventing him from leading his country in Morocco.
The group stage, which runs until 31st December, will see four matches played every day at 12.30pm, 3pm, 5.30pm and 8pm (UK time), while the final round of group action, and knockout stage, will kick off at either 4pm or 7pm.
Although hosts Morocco are favourites, Agbadou’s Ivory Coast come into the competition as holders having won back in 2023 and after going unbeaten throughout their World Cup qualification campaign, will back themselves to retain the title.
AFCON 2025 fixtures involving Wolves players:
- 22nd December | Egypt vs Zimbabwe, Agadir, 8pm
- 24th December | Ivory Coast vs Mozambique, Marrakech, 5.30pm
- 26th December | Angola vs Zimbabwe, Marrakech, 12.30pm
- 28th December | Ivory Coast vs Cameroon, Marrakech, 8pm
- 29th December | Zimbabwe vs South Africa, Marrakech, 4pm
- 31st December | Gabon vs Ivory Coast, Marrakech, 7pm
If Ivory Coast win their group, they will face the runner-up of Group E in the second round, while if Zimbabwe top Group B, they will face one of the best third-place sides.
Ahead of AFCON kicking off next week, Wolves head coach Rob Edwards spoke about the pride he’ll have in seeing his players represent their countries on the biggest stage of African football.
On his players heading to AFCON
“It’s great for them and they’ll be really proud, and so they should be to represent their country in a major tournament.
“I’m really pleased and proud and hope they go and represent their nations with real pride. They'll be great and they’ll take loads from it.
“Good luck to them, go and smash it. Go and be exactly as they’ve been with me and show loads of pride, work incredibly hard, and I know you’ll do your nations proud.”
On keeping tabs on the competition
“I’ll be following our lads and making sure that they’re all right, seeing how they're doing. There’ll be a lot of quality on show, and there’ll be things that we can all take as coaches from it as well. I'm sure it’s going to be really interesting from a tactical point of view as well.
“It's a major tournament and there’s some incredible footballing talent who are going to be involved in it this year.
“It’s a huge football tournament, but my honest part now is just when it is in the season, because there are so many players who are going to be affected, especially in the Premier League now, as well as in Europe.
“It’s an amazing tournament to watch and for the players to be a part of. They should be passionate about it because they get to represent their countries in a huge tournament.”
On having a squad full of internationals
“We’ve got a lot of players that play for their countries. We’ve got so many international footballers now because the club’s been in the Premier League for a long, long time, so year-on-year, you recruit new players and the majority of them now are going to be playing for their national teams, so it’s not a surprise.
“It’s a really good thing that the level is high, but that does make times like this and the international breaks a little bit more challenging.
“But the club has grown over the last decade or so, and now we’ve got to the point where we've got a lot of the players that are playing for the countries and that's been a good change.”
On friendly rivalries in his squad
“I hear little conversations, bits of banter flying around as well between them, and that's really good, and you encourage this.
“The lads are competitive, and they’re really passionate about playing for their country, which is completely right.
“During the international break we saw a lot of that, especially when their countries face each other, so I expect it to be the same during AFCON.”
