Round of 16 - first knock out stage is 23rd Jan and the final is 6th Feb. Kouyate and Senegal look the most likely to go all the way and Ivory Coast are fancied too. The schedule is pretty tight and with COVID about I imagine it could turn out to be a bit of a lottery.

You got that right - Ghana just lost their final game and finish bottom

But Senegal have topped their group (in not particularly impressive fashion) so Kouyate will be away for a bit longer

Will have to wait for Thursday to be sure about Wilf but Ivory Coast are top, and should really have qualified already, so likely he'll be there for longer

Seemingly no reason why Ayew can't be on the bench on Sunday - cracking news.

Looks like the Ivory Coast, assuming they win their group, are likely to run into Egypt in the next round too so every chance Wilf will be flying back next Thursday, with a full week off before Hartlepool.

26th January 2010 - Enter Administration
2nd May 2010 - D-Day 1 - Survival at Hillsborough
1st June 2010 - D-Day 2 - Survival at Lloyds
7th June 2010 - CPFC2010 exchange contracts.

Players at tournaments rarely come home when you expect them to.

I have read loads of stories like this over the years, normally the team has to return to their home country then there are the functions they have to attend to back home e.g. meet The beloved President (otherwise his supporters know where you family lives) or they simply want to party.

Anyway I will be pleasantly surprised if he turn ups this week.

One more point

Looks like a comfortable win for Ivory Coast - already 3-0 up with Wilf warming the bench. So they will be playing Egypt next Wednesday