Nicolas Pepe: Villarreal forward opens up on AFCON snub

Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe has opened up on his exclusion from the national team squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Despite Pepe’s impressive form for La Liga side Villarreal, the former Angers forward was dropped following a disrespectful comments about host nation Morocco in a podcast which caused a lot of disturbances in the media.

The 30-year-old was overlooked at the eleventh hour by head coach Emerse Fae with the ex-international explaining the reason for his omission to “off the field issues.”

Pepe, who has 53 caps and 11 goals for the Ivory Coast explained what transpired between him and head coach Emerse Fae in an interview with NCI Channel.

Nicolas Pepe was dropped at the eleventh hours

“The coach called me before his press conference. I didn’t answer. He called me twice, I didn’t answer.

“I wanted to make him understand that there was no point in calling me at that moment, because it was still raw: the list had just come out. So whatever he was going to tell me, it wasn’t going to go down well. It wasn’t the right time to talk,” Pepe told NCI.

“At that moment, he understood it too, because he had already told me before that we would see each other for the CAN. So he understood my reaction, didn’t insist, and I think we spoke again two days later.

“Then he explained to me the why and how. Basically, he made me understand that it wasn’t his doing, that it had gone beyond him and that just a few minutes before announcing the list, I was still on it. I said: OK, it’s done, it’s done. After that, I spoke with the President and I stayed in a bit of contact with the coach before they entered the competition.”

Nicolas Pepe was dropped from the AFCON squad alongside Monaco forward Simon Adingra with the Elephants exiting the tournament in Morocco at the quarter finals after losing to Egypt

The former Lille, Arsenal and Trabzonspor forward has an impressive record for Villarreal this season, playing 24 times with three goals and four assists to his name.