Cote d'Ivoire national football team

The Côte d'Ivoire national football team (written as "Ivory Coast" in English), nicknamed Les Éléphants (The Elephants), represents Côte d'Ivoire 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 Cup finals, 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.

Honours

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations :

• 1 Time Runners-up

CEDEAO Cup :

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

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1970	Did not enter
1974 to 1978	Did not qualify
1982	Did not enter
1986 to 2002	Did not qualify
2006	Round 1	19	3	1	0	2	5	6
2010	Qualified	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	2/19		3	1	0	2	5	6

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

African Cup of Nations
Titles: 1 Appearances: 18
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1957	Did not enter		1976	Did not qualify		1994	Third Place
1959	Did not enter		1978	Disqualified		1996	Round 1
1962	Did not enter		1980	Round 1		1998	Quarterfinals
1963	Did not enter		1982	Did not enter		2000	Round 1
1965	Third place		1984	Round 1		2002	Round 1
1968	Third Place		1986	Third Place		2004	Did not qualify
1970	Fourth Place		1988	Round 1		2006	Runners-Up
1972	Did not qualify		1990	Round 1		2008	Fourth place
1974	Round 1		1992	Champions		2010	Quarterfinals

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–

Players

Current squad

30 man preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Caps and goals updated as May 30, 2010.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Boubacar Barry 30 December 1979 (aged 30) 43 0 KSC Lokeren GK Aristide Zogbo 30 December 1981 (aged 28) 6 0 Maccabi Netanya GK Daniel Yeboah 13 November 1984 (aged 25) 4 0 Abidjan GK Vincent Angban 2 February 1985 (aged 25) 2 0 ASEC Mimosas DF Arthur Boka 2 April 1983 (aged 27) 54 1 VfB Stuttgart DF Steve Gohouri 8 February 1981 (aged 29) 11 3 Wigan Athletic DF Guy Demel 13 June 1981 (aged 28) 20 0 Hamburger SV DF Emmanuel Eboué 4 June 1983 (aged 26) 51 1 Arsenal DF Kolo Touré 19 March 1981 (aged 29) 77 2 Manchester City DF Sol Bamba 13 January 1985 (aged 25) 17 2 Hibernian DF Abdoulaye Méïté 6 October 1980 (aged 29) 48 1 West Bromwich Albion DF Benjamin Angoua 28 November 1986 (aged 23) 7 1 Valenciennes DF Siaka Tiéné 22 March 1982 (aged 28) 53 2 Valenciennes MF Didier Zokora 14 December 1980 (aged 29) 79 1 Sevilla MF Yaya Touré 13 May 1983 (aged 26) 46 5 Barcelona MF Gilles Yapi Yapo 30 January 1982 (aged 28) 46 2 FC Basel MF Kanga Akalé 7 March 1981 (aged 29) 33 3 RC Lens MF Romaric 4 June 1983 (aged 26) 39 2 Sevilla MF Emerse Faé 24 January 1984 (aged 26) 37 1 Nice MF Cheick Tioté 21 June 1986 (aged 23) 9 0 Twente MF Emmanuel Koné 31 December 1986 (aged 23) 12 0 FC Internaţional MF Jean-Jacques Gosso 15 March 1983 (aged 27) 7 0 AS Monaco MF Abdul Kader Keïta 6 August 1981 (aged 28) 53 11 Galatasaray FW Gervinho 27 May 1987 (aged 22) 14 4 Lille FW Didier Drogba 11 March 1978 (aged 32) 67 44 Chelsea FW Salomon Kalou 5 August 1985 (aged 24) 28 11 Chelsea FW Aruna Dindane 26 November 1980 (aged 29) 55 16 Lens FW Bakary Koné 11 November 1983 (aged 26) 34 9 Marseille FW Seydou Doumbia 31 December 1987 (aged 22) 5 2 CSKA Moscow FW Lacina Traoré 20 May 1990 (aged 19) 0 0 CFR Cluj

Recent call-ups

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Ibrahim Koné December 5, 1989 (1989-12-05) (age 20) 0 0 Boulogne GK Badra Ali Sangaré May 30, 1986 (1986-05-30) (age 24) Olympic Charleroi 16 GK Stephan Loboué August 23, 1981 (1981-08-23) (age 28) 3 0 Greuther Fürth GK Stéphane Dimy (v. Tunisia on March 26) November 12, 1980 (1980-11-12) (age 29) 0 0 Africa Sports GK Tiassé Koné (v. Ghana, February 9, 2009) October 17, 1987 (1987-10-17) (age 22) 1 0 Africa Sports DF Igor Lolo 22 July 1982 (aged 27) 9 0 AS Monaco DF Constant Djakpa October 17, 1986 (1986-10-17) (age 23) 3 0 Hannover DF Diarrasouba Viera December 21, 1986 (1986-12-21) (age 23) 0 0 Internaţional DF Marco Zoro December 27, 1983 (1983-12-27) (age 26) 21 1 Benfica DF Bakary Soro December 5, 1985 (1985-12-05) (age 24) 0 0 Lorient MF Cissé Abdouljabbar Ousmane January 28, 1989 (1989-01-28) (age 21) 23 5 Istres MF Kanga Akalé (Friendly v. Israel, 19 November) March 7, 1981 (1981-03-07) (age 29) 33 3 Lens MF Christian Manfredini (Friendly v. Israel, 19 November) May 1, 1975 (1975-05-01) (age 35) 1 0 Lazio MF Felix Dja Ettien (Friendly v. Guinea, 20 August) September 26, 1979 (1979-09-26) (age 30) 6 1 Unattached 8 MF Abdou Razack Traoré (WCQ v. Botswana, June 14) December 28, 1988 (1988-12-28) (age 21) 0 0 Rosenborg MF Kafoumba Coulibaly October 26, 1985 (1985-10-26) (age 24) 1 0 Nice MF Thierry Doubai (v. Tunisia, March 26, 2009) June 1, 1988 (1988-06-01) (age 22) 1 0 Young Boys MF Lionel Bah February 2, 1980 (1980-02-02) (age 30) 4 0 FC Astra Ploieşti MF Did'dy Guela June 19, 1986 (1986-06-19) (age 23) 0 0 Arminia Bielefeld FW Sekou Cissé May 23, 1985 (1985-05-23) (age 25) 4 3 Feyenoord FW Boubacar Sanogo December 17, 1982 (1982-12-17) (age 27) 12 8 Saint-Étienne 9 FW Kandia Traoré (WCQ v. Botswana, June 22, 2009) June 5, 1980 (1980-06-05) (age 29) 25 8 Sochaux FW Amara Diané August 19, 1982 (1982-08-19) (age 27) 1 1 Al-Rayyan FW Bonaventure Kalou January 12, 1978 (1978-01-12) (age 32) 51 12 Heerenveen FW Guillaume Dah Zadi June 1, 1978 (1978-06-01) (age 32) 1 0 Unattached

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 comprised entirely of players who play their club football outside their home country.

2006 World Cup information

Côte d'Ivoire qualified through a tough 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 win over Sudan, while Cameroon faltered and could only manage a 1–1 draw at home to Egypt.
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.^[1]

FIFA World Cup 2010

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2010-06-15 16:00 UTC+2	Côte d'Ivoire	v	Portugal	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

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2010-06-20 13:30 UTC+2	Brazil	v	Côte d'Ivoire	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg

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2010-06-25 16:00 UTC+2	Korea DPR	v	Côte d'Ivoire	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Brazil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Korea DPR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Côte d'Ivoire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 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 "players trainer" (player and a 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.
Côte d'Ivoire is the only team to have never been shut in any World Cup match. The team scored in all three games of their 2006 World Cup campaign, against Argentina, the Netherlands, and Serbia and Montenegro.

References

1. ^ "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.