It is at the 2025 African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast in Morocco (final on January 18) that we find Alban Lafont. Former Ligue 1 prodigy goalkeeper with Toulouse FC (106 matches from 2015 to 2018), captain of the Espoirs from 2019 to 2021 (14 caps) and winner of the 2022 Coupe de France with FC Nantes (against OGC Nice, 1-0), he was even called up to the French team by Didier Deschamps in September 2022, two months before the Cup of the world in Qatar.
As a reminder, Lafont’s career already changed last season. Goalkeeper for the Canaries since 2019, the native of Ouagadougou was left out of the team. He was replaced by Anthony Lopes but without being able to leave the residents of Beaujoire during the winter transfer window. And he is only loaned to Panathinaikos this season. Good news, however: he was able to accept the call-up to Ivory Coast, the country of his paternal grandfather, rather than representing his native land.
After the Elephants’ first two matches at CAN 2025, for a 1-0 victory against Mozambique then a draw against Cameroon (1-1), Alban Lafont was started in place of Yahia Fofana by Emerse Faé for the last match of group F against Gabon, already eliminated. However, the 26-year-old goalkeeper weighed down his team against the Panthers in the first period, before the
remontada of Ivory Coast for a 3-2 victory in the 91st minute on a goal from Bazoumana Touré.
Alban Lafont close to goal gag
From the 11th minute of the game, Lafont released a shot from Teddy Averlant and Guelor Kanga took the opportunity to open the scoring for the Gabonese. A few moments later, the former Fiorentina player was unable to do anything on a curled shot from Denis Bouanga for the 2-0 Gabonese (21st). But the goalkeeper also had a hole after half an hour of play. He sent a restart to the feet of Denis Bouanga. The former Stéphanois did not target his long shot, but Alban Lafont, while trying to sprint towards his cage, fell to the ground without being able to get up (33rd)…
The victory of the Ivorians at the Grand stadium in Marrakech, in a festive atmosphere at the final whistle on December 31, is not without consequences. By finishing at the top of their group, the reigning African champions avoid the part of the table of Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria. Seko Fofana and his teammates face Burkina Faso in the round of 16 next Tuesday. Before a quarter-final against the winner of Egypt-Benin.
