Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony will miss Manchester City's potential title decider with Chelsea on Saturday after Ivory Coast qualified for the quarterfinals of the African Nations Cup.
The Ivorians' early struggles in Equatorial Guinea offered City the unexpected prospect of having their vice-captain and new signing back ahead of schedule and in time to take on Jose Mourinho's side.
And if Ivory Coast, who had drawn their first two games, had lost to Cameroon, they would have been eliminated, meaning Toure and Bony might have been able to figure at Stamford Bridge.
But Herve Renard's side, who are among the favourites to win the competition, beat Cameroon 1-0 with a goal from Max Gradel to set up a tie with Algeria on Sunday.
Toure, who captains his country, was substituted with nine minutes remaining after suffering from a cramp, while Bony played the full 90.
So City will have to wait to give the 26-year-old his debut after the striker clinched a 25 million-pound move from Swansea.
City have not won a Premier League game without Toure, who has scored six goals in his last nine games, since April.
They will also be without injured midfielder Samir Nasri when they face the league leaders.