Somalia and Cote d’Ivoire name likely line-ups for CAN 2027 qualifier

Somalia face Cote d’Ivoire in Group C of the CAN 2027 qualifiers on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, with the match taking place at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana.

Although Somalia are listed as the home side, the fixture will be played at a neutral venue. The meeting is the second round of matches in the qualifying campaign, with both teams seeking a positive result.

Somalia

The Ocean Stars remain hopeful of producing an upset despite their 2-1 defeat by Gambia in their opening match.

Somalia manager Yusuf Ali Nur could respond by setting up his team in a more defensive formation. The approach would be intended to help the side move the ball quickly both when dropping back and when attempting to launch attacking transitions.

The likely Somalia team is:

Goalkeeper: Ibrahim Ahmed Hussein

Defenders: Abdulle Abdullahi, Abel Gigli, Ali Omar, Faisal Othman, Abdiwali Abdirahman Mohamed

Midfielders: Abdi Sabriye, Abdulsamed Abdullahi, Abdi Sharif, Sakariya Hassan

Striker: Bilal Njie

The pre-match discussion has also included Kanga Akale’s expectation that Cote d’Ivoire will confirm the form shown in their opening fixture.

Cote d’Ivoire

Cote d’Ivoire go into the match with confidence after a convincing 2-0 victory against Ghana.

Herve Renard has no reported absences in his squad and has a full selection of players available. The manager could name the same starting XI that began the win over Ghana, although he may also choose to rotate his squad against a Somalia side still searching for stability and understanding.

The likely Cote d’Ivoire team is:

Goalkeeper: Yahia Fofana

Defenders: Luck Zogbe, Ousmane Diomande, Evan Ndicka, Ghislain Konan

Midfielders: Christ Inao Oulai, Malick Yalcouye, Franck Kessie

Attackers: Nicolas Pepe, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Yan Diomande

Match odds

A betting preview for the CAN 2027 qualifier referenced a price of 2.27 for a match involving the Elephants. The listed prices put Somalia at 22.00 to win, with the draw at 8.00 and a Cote d’Ivoire victory at 1.21.

Those figures make Cote d’Ivoire the clear favourites on paper, while Somalia will attempt to respond to their opening defeat and claim their first points of the campaign.