ZURICH – In a formal decision announced Friday, global soccer governing body FIFA has greenlit a national team eligibility change that allows 22-year-old Inter Milan forward Ange-Yoan Bonny to represent 2023 Africa Cup of Nations champions Ivory Coast at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Bonny, who previously featured for France’s Under-21 national team and grew up in the northern suburbs of Paris, qualified for the nationality switch under existing FIFA regulations thanks to verifiable family ties to Ivory Coast. The rule change, which allows players to shift their senior international allegiance between nations when they have ancestral or familial connection to the new country, required formal sign-off from both the French Football Federation and FIFA’s governing body, a step that was completed this week.
The approval clears the way for Bonny to join the Ivory Coast squad for the World Cup, where the African side has been drawn into a competitive group alongside Germany, Ecuador and Curacao. Ivory Coast’s group stage matches will be split across two North American host cities: two encounters will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the third will be held in Toronto, Ontario.
On the club side, Bonny has turned in a solid debut campaign with Italian Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan after making the move from Parma ahead of the current season. He has found the back of the net seven times in domestic and continental play during his first year with the Nerazzurri, and has featured in every one of Inter’s 10 UEFA Champions League matches this term – though he has only started two of those outings, contributing three assists without scoring in Europe’s top club competition.