COTE D'IVOIRE
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As in the majority of African nations, football is by far the most
popular sport in Côte d'Ivoire. The championships in the suburbs,
villages, schools and universities serve as the breeding grounds where
young players develop talents that will take them on to top-flight teams
and in many cases to clubs abroad.
After Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire is the second most frequent qualifier for the final competition of the African Cup of Nations with 19 appearances (including ten in succession), but they have only won the title once - in Senegal in 1992. By qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in Germany, the national team has emulated their youth teams' successful appearances in the U-17 and U-20 World Championships in 1977, 1983, 1993, 1997, 2003 and 2005. Several continental club titles (most notably for Africa Sports and ASEC-Mimosas) underline the fine work that the clubs have done. A whole host of players have pursued successful football careers abroad (primarily in France) and as dual citizens have been capped by the French national team (e.g. Basile Boli, Kapo and Djibril Cisse). Laurent Pokou is the top scorer in the history of the African Cup of Nations. In 1968 and 1970, he scored a total of 14 goals, five of them in a 6-1 win over Ethiopia at the 1970 competition in Sudan. (FIFA.com) ACHIEVEMENTS
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SQUAD
2013: - Season 2012/2013 - CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2013 2012: - Season 2011/2012 - CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2012 2011: - Season 2010/2011 - CAF African U-23 Championship 2011 - FIFA U-17 World Cup 2011 - Toulon Youth Festival 2011 Nickname Les Éléphants (The Elephants) Home Colours Jerseys: Orange Shorts: White Socks: Green Other Results 4th Place Confederations Cup (1992) FIFA World Cup Appearances 2 (2006, 2010) Best Result: Group Stage Africa Cup of Nations Appearances 20 FIFA Ranking Current : 14 (as of January 2013) Highest : 14 (Jun 2011/Dec 2012/Jan 2013) Lowest : 75 (March 2004) Average : 36 Most Caps Didier Zokora (103) Top Scorer Didier Drogba (59)  |
