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 16
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.

Contents

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
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

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 26) 0 0 ASEC Mimosas v.  Benin, 27 March 2011

Previous squads

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'
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

Notes

References

  1. ^ "The road to Germany/Egypt 2006". BBC News. 8 October 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/3300721.stm. 
  2. ^ More than a game by Neil Stormer – Common Ground News Service
  3. ^ "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

*ElephantsOnline — supporters' website
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