Côte d'Ivoire national football team

Côte d'Ivoire

Nickname(s)	Les Éléphants (The Elephants)
Association	Fédération Ivoirienne de Football
Sub-confederation	WAFU (West Africa)
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	François Zahoui
Captain	Didier Drogba
Most caps	Didier Zokora (94)
Top scorer	Didier Drogba (50)
Home stadium	Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny
FIFA code	CIV
FIFA ranking	19
Highest FIFA ranking	14 (June 2011)
Lowest FIFA ranking	75 (March 2004)
Elo ranking	18
Highest Elo ranking	12 (February 2008)
Lowest Elo ranking	69 (October 1996)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Côte d'Ivoire 3–2 Dahomey  (Madagascar; 13 April 1960)
Biggest win
Côte d'Ivoire 6–0 Mali  (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 13 March 1985) Côte d'Ivoire 6–0 Botswana  (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 11 October 1992) Côte d'Ivoire 6–0 Niger  (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 15 July 2000) Côte d'Ivoire 6–0 Madagascar  (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; 1 July 2001)
Biggest defeat
Côte d'Ivoire 2–6 Ghana  (Côte d'Ivoire; 2 May 1971)  Malawi 5–1 Côte d'Ivoire (Malawi; 6 July 1974)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 2006)
Best result	Round 1, 2006, 2010
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	19 (First in 1965)
Best result	Winners, 1992
Confederations Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 1992)
Best result	4th, 1992

The Côte d'Ivoire National Football Team or Ivory Coast National Football Team, nicknamed Les Éléphants ("The Elephants" in French), represents Côte d'Ivoire (commonly known as Ivory Coast in English) in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. Until 2005, their greatest accomplishment was winning the 1992 African Cup of Nations against Ghana on penalties at the Stade Leopold Senghor in Dakar, Senegal.

They have qualified for two World Cups, first in Germany in 2006, losing to Argentina and the Netherlands and beating Serbia and Montenegro as they failed to progress beyond the group stage. They qualified again for South Africa in 2010 and did not get through the group stage again.

Honours

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations :

• 1 Time Runners-up

CEDEAO Cup :

• 3 Times Champion (1983, 1987, 1991)
• 1 Time Runners-up

Toulon Tournament

• 1 Time champion (2010)

World Cup record

See also: Côte d'Ivoire at the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did Not Enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974	Did Not Qualify
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006	Group Stage	19th	3	1	0	2	5	6
2010	Group Stage	17th	3	1	1	1	4	3
2014	To Be Determined
Total	Group Stage	2/19	6	2	1	3	9	9

FIFA Confederations Cup record

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1992	Fourth place	2	0	0	2	2	9
1995 to 2009	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/8	2	0	0	2	2	9

African Nations Cup record

Host nation(s) / Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1957	Did not enter
1959
1962
1963
1965	Did not Qualify	3	3	2	0	1	5	4
1968	Did not Qualify	3	5	3	1	1	9	6
1970	Did not Qualify	4	5	2	1	2	11	9
1972	Did not qualify
1974	Round 1	7	3	0	1	2	2	5
1976	Did not qualify
1978	Banned
1980	Round 1	6	3	0	2	1	2	3
1982	Did not enter
1984	Round 1	5	3	1	0	2	4	4
1986	Third place	3	5	3	0	2	7	5
1988	Did not Qualify	6	3	0	3	0	2	2
1990	Did not Qualify	6	3	1	0	2	3	5
1992	Winners	1	5	2	3	0	4	0
1994	Did not Qualify	3	5	3	1	1	11	5
1996	Round 1	11	3	1	0	2	2	5
1998	Quarterfinals	7	4	2	2	0	10	6
2000	Round 1	9	3	1	1	1	3	4
2002	Round 1	16	3	0	1	2	1	4
2004	Did not qualify
2006	Runners-up	2	6	3	2	1	6	5
2008	Fourth place	4	6	4	0	2	16	9
2010	Quarterfinals	8	3	1	2	0	5	4
2012	Qualified
2013	TBD
Total	19/28	1 Title	71	29	20	22	103	85

Coaches

• Martial Yéo 1992
• Robert Nouzaret
• Philippe Troussier 1993
• Henri Michel 2004–2006
• Uli Stielike 2006–2008
• Gérard Gili, 2008 (interim), the under-23 coach acted as temporary replacement for Stielike
• Uli Stielike, 2008 (interim), on temporary contract expiring April 15, 2008
• Vahid Halilhodžić 2008–2010
• Sven-Göran Eriksson 2010
• François Zahoui 2010–

Players

Current squad

The following squad has been selected for the Nelson Mandela Challenge against South Africa on November 12, 2011.

Cap and goals updated as November 12, 2011.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Boubacar Barry 30 December 1979 (aged 31) 53 0 Lokeren 16 GK Daniel Yeboah 13 November 1984 (1984-11-13) (age 27) 9 0 ASEC Mimosas 23 GK Gérard Gnanhouan 12 February 1979 (aged 32) 9 0 Avranches 2 DF Benjamin Angoua 28 November 1986 (aged 24) 11 1 Valenciennes 4 DF Kolo Touré 19 March 1981 (aged 29) 87 4 Manchester City 17 DF Siaka Tiéné 22 March 1982 (aged 29) 68 2 Paris Saint-Germain 20 DF Igor Lolo 22 July 1982 (aged 29) 11 0 Kuban Krasnodar 21 DF Emmanuel Eboué 4 June 1983 (aged 27) 65 2 Galatasaray 22 DF Sol Bamba 13 January 1985 (aged 26) 19 2 Leicester City 3 MF Kafoumba Coulibaly 26 October 1985 (aged 25) 5 0 Nice 5 MF Didier Zokora 14 December 1980 (aged 30) 94 1 Trabzonspor 9 MF Max Gradel 30 November 1987 (aged 23) 3 0 Saint-Étienne 12 MF Jean-Jacques Gosso 15 March 1983 (1983-03-15) (age 28) 10 0 Orduspor 18 MF Didier Konan Ya 25 February 1984 (aged 27) 9 5 Hannover 96 19 MF Yaya Touré 13 May 1983 (aged 28) 59 8 Manchester City 7 FW Seydou Doumbia 31 December 1987 (aged 23) 13 2 CSKA Moscow 8 FW Salomon Kalou 5 August 1985 (aged 25) 38 13 Chelsea 10 FW Gervinho 27 May 1987 (1987-05-27) (age 24) 29 6 Arsenal 15 FW Wilfried Bony 10 December 1988 (aged 22) 6 3 Vitesse

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up GK Badra Ali Sangaré 30 May 1986 (1986-05-30) (age 25) 1 0 Séwé Sports de San Pedro v.  Burundi, 9 October 2011 GK Ibrahim Koné 5 December 1989 (aged 21) 0 0 Boulogne v.  Rwanda, 3 September 2011 DF Arthur Boka 2 April 1983 (aged 28) 60 1 VfB Stuttgart v.  South Africa, 12 November 2011 DF Steve Gohouri 8 February 1981 (aged 29) 13 3 Wigan Athletic v.  Burundi, 9 October 2011 DF Brice Dja Djedjé 23 December 1990 (aged 20) 0 0 Evian v.  Rwanda, 3 September 2011 DF Guy Demel 13 June 1981 (aged 29) 34 0 West Ham United v.  Israel, 11 August 2011 MF Abdul Kader Keïta 6 August 1981 (1981-08-06) (age 30) 62 11 Al-Sadd v.  South Africa, 12 November 2011 MF Cheick Tioté 21 June 1986 (aged 25) 20 0 Newcastle United v.  South Africa, 12 November 2011 MF Moussa Koné 12 February 1990 (aged 21) 1 1 Pescara v.  Rwanda, 3 September 2011 MF Romaric 4 June 1983 (aged 27) 38 5 Espanyol v.  Benin, 5 June 2011 MF Emerse Faé 24 January 1984 (aged 26) 45 1 Nice v.  Mali, 8 February 2011 FW Didier Drogba March 11, 1978 (1978-03-11) (age 33) 75 50 Chelsea v.  South Africa, 12 November 2011 FW Serges Déblé 1 October 1989 (aged 21) 0 0 Charlton Athletic v.  Israel, 11 August 2011 FW Adama Bakayoko 1 January 1986 (1986-01-01) (age 25) 0 0 ASEC Mimosas v.  Benin, 27 March 2011 Previous squads 2006 African Cup of Nations squad 2006 FIFA World Cup squad Côte d'Ivoire was the only nation to name a 23-man World Cup squad composed entirely of players who play their club football outside their home country. 2006 World Cup information Côte d'Ivoire qualified through a qualifying group which included African powerhouses Cameroon and Egypt, despite losing home and away to the former. On the last day of qualification, they confirmed their spot with a 3–1 [1] win over Sudan, while Cameroon faltered and could only manage a 1–1 draw at home to Egypt. The qualification of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team even brought about a temporary peace agreement during the First Ivorian Civil War. The team helped to secure a truce in 2006 when they qualified, bringing warring parties together, and convinced President Laurent Gbagbo to restart peace talks.[2] Côte d'Ivoire lost their opening game 2–1 in the 2006 World Cup in Germany to an Argentine side. The goals for Argentina came from Hernán Crespo and Javier Saviola. Côte d'Ivoire's goal came from Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. They lost their second match to the Netherlands by the same scoreline and were thus eliminated from the tournament. The Netherlands' goals came from a Robin van Persie free-kick in the 23rd minute and a Ruud van Nistelrooy strike in the 27th minute. Bakari Koné scored in the 38th minute for the Africans to pull the score to 2–1. Côte d'Ivoire's final game was against Serbia and Montenegro. The Serbian team scored two quick goals and it appeared that the Côte d'Ivoire was destined for a three-loss World Cup campaign. However, the Africans came back, led by two goals from Aruna Dindane, and won the game 3–2 to finish in third place. 2010 World Cup Qualification On 10 October 2009, Côte d'Ivoire secured a place at the 2010 World Cup after Didier Drogba struck within two minutes of coming on as a substitute to clinch a 1–1 draw with Malawi.[3] FIFA World Cup 2010 Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup Group G 2010-06-15 16:00 UTC+2 Côte d'Ivoire  0 – 0  Portugal Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth Attendance: 78,944 2010-06-20 13:30 UTC+2 Brazil  3 – 1  Côte d'Ivoire Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg Attendance: 84,455 Referee: Stephane Lannoy Drogba  79' 2010-06-25 16:00 UTC+2 North Korea  0 – 3  Côte d'Ivoire Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit Attendance: 34,763 Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain) Report Yaya Touré  14' Romaric  20' Kalou  82' Teamv · d · e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Brazil 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3 7  Portugal 3 1 2 0 7 0 +7 5  Côte d'Ivoire 3 1 1 1 4 3 +1 4  North Korea 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0 Trivia The Côte d'Ivoire team is notable for having participated in (and won) the two highest-scoring penalty shoot-outs in international football competition – the 24-shot shoot-out in the final of the 1992 African Cup of Nations when Ghana was defeated 11–10, and the 24-shot shoot-out in the quarter-final of the 2006 African Cup of Nations, when Cameroon was defeated 12–11. After Uli Stielike left before the Africa Cup 2008, due to his son's health situation, Gerard Gili, the co-trainer, took his position. To compensate of the lack of another co-coach, Didier Drogba acted as a player-coach. This was only the second time that a player had also acted as coach in the Africa Cup, after George Weah was both player and coach for Liberia during the 2002 tournament. In both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, Côte d'Ivoire were placed in a so called "Group of Death." In 2006, Côte d'Ivoire faced Argentina, Netherlands and Serbia and Montenegro; Argentina and Netherlands reached the Round of 16. In 2010, Côte d'Ivoire was drawn with Brazil, Portugal, and North Korea. Côte d'Ivoire finished third in Group G, as Brazil and Portugal progressed. See Also Côte d'Ivoire national under-20 football team Notes References ^ "The road to Germany/Egypt 2006". BBC News. 8 October 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/3300721.stm.  ^ More than a game by Neil Stormer – Common Ground News Service ^ "Ivory Coast qualify for 2010 World Cup finals". ESPN. 2009-10-10. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=262941&cc=5739. Retrieved 2009-10-15.  External links Côte d'Ivoire Association — official website Côte d'Ivoire at FIFA.com *ElephantsOnline — supporters' website