Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast's Les Éléphants are three-time Africa Cup of Nations champions — most recently claiming the 2023 title as tournament hosts in remarkable fashion after changing coaches mid-competition — and boast one of the continent's most storied football traditions, built on generations of world-class talent including the legendary Didier Drogba. Coach Emerse Faé guides the side into the 2026 World Cup.

Ivory Coast established its national federation in 1960, the same year the country gained independence, and played its first international that same April. The team became a fixture at the Africa Cup of Nations through the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1992 claimed their first continental championship in a final against Ghana decided entirely on penalties. Those same years saw Ivory Coast produce world-class players who rose to prominence in European football, laying the groundwork for a golden generation.

The early 2000s brought the so-called 'golden generation' — a crop that included Didier Drogba, the Touré brothers Yaya and Kolo, and Didier Zokora. Despite domestic civil conflict at times fracturing the country, football served as a unifying force. The team qualified for its first World Cup in 2006 but was drawn into a notoriously difficult group with Argentina and the Netherlands. Further World Cup appearances in 2010 and 2014 saw the Elephants eliminated in the group stage on each occasion.

After a period of transition following Drogba's international retirement, Ivory Coast rebuilt around a new generation and won the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, defeating Ghana in the final once again on penalties. The 2023 AFCON, hosted on Ivorian soil, produced one of the tournament's great stories — the team replaced head coach Jean-Louis Gasset mid-competition with Emerse Faé, and still went on to lift the trophy, making history as the first team to win the AFCON after a mid-tournament coaching change.