Coach Emerse Fae has been defending some of his squad choices as Ivory Coast tries to do what Egypt did 15 years ago: win back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) titles.

Since Egypt's win over Ghana in 2010, there have been eight AFCON tournaments with seven different champs.

The one exception? Ivory Coast, who won in 2015 after a penalty shootout against Ghana. They also won last year, beating Nigeria at home.

The Elephants, who first won AFCON in 1992, kick off their title defense against Mozambique on December 24 in Group F. Then, they'll go up against five-time champions Cameroon and Gabon.

All group winners and runners-up will move on to the round of 16 in Morocco, plus the four best third-place teams.

It's hard to believe Ivory Coast won't make it to the knockout stage, and Fae seems positive, even with some criticism about his selections.

The biggest complaints from the media? Leaving out Villarreal forward Nicolas Pepe and Sunderland winger Simon Adingra.

Fae, a former Ivory Coast midfielder, said that if it was just about sports, Pepe would be with them.

He said that making the list means looking at a lot of things, both on and off the field, and that's why Nico didn't make the cut.

Fae didn't say what those reasons were for leaving out Pepe, even though he's been doing well in La Liga and even won a player of the month award.

As for Adingra, Fae said that Simon is having a hard time getting a starting spot at Sunderland, so they had to make the selection without him.

Former Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is back after three years, thanks to his performance for Charlotte in Major League Soccer.

Fae said his ability to beat defenders and his current form helped him get back on the team. He's scored 10 goals and created six more this season.

Fae added that Ivory Coast can use his experience and ability to create chances for his teammates.

Fae became a hero in Ivory Coast after the team bounced back from a bad start in 2024 to beat Senegal, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria to win the AFCON trophy.

He started as an assistant to Jean-Louis Gasset but took over when the coach was fired after losses to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

They barely made it to the knockout stage and became the first team to lose twice and still win AFCON.

Despite the drama, Cameroon is probably Ivory Coast's biggest threat in Group F. Gabon's defense isn't great, and Mozambique has never won an AFCON match.

Samuel Eto'o, the re-elected president of Cameroon's football federation, sacked Belgian coach Marc Brys after the team didn't qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

They had been fighting since the government picked Brys, a decision usually made by football officials.

David Pagou, who has coached local clubs, took over, and his squad announcement had some surprises: Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana (currently on loan at Trabzonspor) and veteran forward Vincent Aboubakar were left out.

Pagou said they wanted to do things differently. They're good players, but they chose others to create a different vibe.

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is calling the group the group of death, saying that if you make it through, you can win AFCON.

If 42-year-old Mozambique midfielder Elias 'Domingues' Pelembe plays, he'll be the second-oldest player to compete at AFCON, after Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary.

El Hadary was 44 when he played in the 2017 final, which Cameroon won.

Since his start in May 2021, Hugo Broos has been in charge of Bafana Bafana for 33 important games. He got the team to the Africa Cup of Nations finals twice and the 2026 World Cup. They haven't lost a game on the field in the last two years.

Of those games, they've only lost four on the field. They haven't lost any of the last 20 important games since losing 2-0 to Mali at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in 2024.

There's one thing to remember: the 2-0 win against Lesotho in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers was changed to a 3-0 loss because of the Teboho Mokoena situation.

But we're only looking at what happened on the field during the game, so we're keeping the original result. Also, the semi-final loss to Nigeria on penalties at the last Africa Cup of Nations is being counted as a 1-1 draw, which is what FIFA says.

Broos has won 18 of those 33 games (55%), drawn 11 (33%), and lost four (12%).

The losses were against Ghana (0-1) in the last game of the 2022 World Cup qualifying group in Cape Coast, when Bafana gave up a questionable penalty, and a 2-1 loss to Morocco at the start of qualifying for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

They also lost 2-0 to Rwanda on a tough field in one of their first 2026 World Cup qualifiers and 2-0 to Mali in their first game at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in January 2024.

There have been some good wins, like beating Morocco twice—especially in the Round of 16 at the last Africa Cup of Nations—a home win against Ghana at Soccer City, a big 2-0 win against Benin in a World Cup qualifier played in Abidjan, and a 5-0 home win against Congo, their second-biggest ever.

Broos hasn't been able to beat Nigeria yet. All three games they've played under him have ended 1-1.

The team is still getting better with him as coach. In their last 10 important games, they've had eight clean sheets, only let in two goals, and scored 22. Only Congo and Nigeria have scored against them in that time.

In all 33 games, Bafana has scored 53 goals and let in 22.

Lyle Foster and Teboho Mokoena have scored the most goals under Broos in important games, with seven each. Oswin Appollis has four, and Evidence Makgopa has three.