Franck Kessié #8

Profile

The 29-year-old Côte d’Ivoire captain is arriving at his first World Cup. His first cap came shortly after Brazil 2014, the last time Les Éléphants reached the tournament. Kessié established himself in the national team in 2016 and has been a favourite of every coach since, winning his 100th cap in March. During the celebrations to commemorate this milestone, the president of the Ivorian federation, Idriss Diallo, laid down Kessié’s World Cup challenge: lead the team for at least six games, into the quarter-finals. Ivorian football’s poster boy has two African titles to his name, at Under-17 and senior level, and has won the league in Italy and Spain. He left Barcelona for Saudi Arabia, where he is a double Asian Champions League champion.

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