Ivory Coast

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The World Cup has become used to the likes of Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria causing upsets along the way but this summer all five nations that have qualified from Africa for the Finals have never experienced the most prestigious football tournament before.

The Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Angola and Trinidad and Tobago are all going to the World Cup Finals for the first time and while Pele's prophecy that an African team would lift the Cup still seems a bit far off given the formidable opposition that awaits in Germany but it s a good bet that there could be a few surprises in store for those coming up some of the African sides.

The Ivory Coast, who go by the nickname The Elephants, won the African Nations Cup in 1992 and boasting talents like Didier Drogba and Ibrahima Bakayako will be capable of holding their own this summer. Plying his trade at Chelsea, Drogba took some criticism last season because of his inconsistency in the Premiership but he nevertheless returned a solid goalscoring ratio, something he has continued this season.

The opportunity to plant his flag in the worlds premier competition will be a tantalising prospect for the hitman who is more than capable of tormenting defences.

Similarly, Bakayako who earns a crust from playing in Italy's Serie A was voted runner-up to Barcelona striker Samuel Eto in the African Footballer of the Year award in February 2005.

Coach: Henri Michel (FRA)
FIFA Ranking: 41

Ivory Coast Matches

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
5	Sat 10th Jun 21:00	C	ARG	CIV	2 - 1	Hamburg
22	Fri 16th Jun 18:00	C	NED	CIV	2 - 1	Stuttgart
38	Wed 21st Jun 21:00	C	CIV	SCG	3 - 2	Munich

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

First appearance at a World Cup finals competition

Key Players

Didier Drogba
Aruna Dindane
Kolo Toure

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Winners of African qualifying Group 3 ahead of Cameroon.

Squad

						Total		World Cup 2006
#	Posn	Name	DOB	Club		Caps	Goals	Pld	Goals	OG	YC	RC
1	GK	Tizie Jean-Jacques	07-09-1972	Esperance	TUN	27	0	2	0	0	0	0
2	MF	Akale Kanga	07-03-1981	Auxerre	FRA	26	3	3	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Boka Arthur	02-04-1983	Strasbourg	FRA	27	1	3	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Toure Kolo	19-03-1981	Arsenal	ENG	45	1	2	0	0	0	0
5	MF	Zokora Didier	14-12-1980	Saint-Etienne	FRA	42	0	3	0	0	1	0
6	DF	Kouassi Blaise	02-02-1975	Troyes	FRA	37	0	1	0	0	0	0
7	MF	Fae Emerse	24-01-1984	Nantes	FRA	14	1	0	0	0	0	0
8	FW	Kalou Bonaventure	12-01-1978	Paris St-Germain	FRA	52	12	2	1	0	0	0
9	FW	Kone Arouna	11-11-1983	PSV Eindhoven	NED	21	2	3	0	0	0	0
10	MF	Yapi Yapo Gilles	30-01-1982	Young Boys	SUI	27	2	1	0	0	0	0
11	FW	Drogba Didier	11-03-1978	Chelsea	ENG	35	25	2	1	0	2	0
12	DF	Meite Abdoulaye	06-10-1980	Marseille	FRA	21	0	2	0	0	0	0
13	DF	Zoro Marc	27-12-1983	Messina	ITA	13	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	FW	Kone Bakary	17-09-1981	Nice	FRA	20	4	3	1	0	0	0
15	FW	Dindane Aruna	26-11-1980	Lens	FRA	38	13	3	2	0	1	0
16	GK	Gnanhouan Gerard	12-02-1979	Montpellier	FRA	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	Domoraud Cyrille	22-07-1971	Creteil	FRA	51	0	1	0	0	1	1
18	MF	Keita Kader	06-08-1981	Lille	FRA	29	6	2	0	0	1	0
19	MF	Toure Yaya	13-05-1983	Olympiakos	GRE	18	2	3	0	0	0	0
20	MF	Demel Guy	13-06-1981	Hamburger SV	GER	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	DF	Eboue Emmanuel	04-06-1983	Arsenal	ENG	15	0	3	0	0	1	0
22	MF	Romaric Ndri	04-06-1983	Le Mans	FRA	9	0	1	0	0	0	0
23	GK	Barry Boubacar	30-12-1979	Beveren	BEL	7	0	1	0	0	0	0