Ivory Coast National Football Team
FIFA Ranking: 61
Governing Body:-
Ivorian Football Federation (FIF)
Home Stadium:-
Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan
Captain:-
Serge Aurier
Coach:-
Patrice Beaumelle
Most Capped Player:-
Didier Zokora (123 caps)
Top Scorer:-
Didier Drogba (65 goals)
Star Players:-
Serge Aurier, Eric Bailly, Wilfried Zaha, Nicolas Pepe, Willy Boly, Sebastien Haller
Nickname:-
Les Éléphants (The Elephants)
Rivals:-
Burkina Faso
Ghana
Senegal
World Cup:-
Appearances: 3
Best Result: Group Stage (2006, 2010, 2014)
Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON):-
Appearances: 23
Best Result: 2 x Champions (1992, 2015)
African Nations Championship:-
Appearances: 3
Best Result: 3rd (2016)
Confederations Cup:-
Appearances: 1
Best Result: 4th (1992)
The Ivory Coast national football team represents Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire), in international football. The Ivorian Football Federation was founded in 1960 and is in charge of all footballing matters in the country. It became a FIFA affiliate in 1964.
Just like Ghana, Ivory Coast is a part of Zone B of WAFU. Ivory Coast has become a giant in African football in recent years producing some world-class talents like Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Wilfried Bony, Seydou Doumbia, Salomon Kalou and many more.
They had never qualified for the FIFA World Cup prior to 2006 but 2006 onwards, they qualified for 3 consecutive World Cups. They missed out on 2018 qualification but look strong enough to be back in the fray for Qatar 2022.
Ivory Coast backed up their FIFA World Cup qualification success with an AFCON win in 2015. The teams that achieved this run are considered to be one of the greatest ever African football teams in football, led by Didier Drogba for most of it.
Although Cote d’Ivoire made 3 consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments, they failed to make it through the group stages in all of them suggesting that there is still a level they need to find to compete with some of the top South American and European sides.
Football in Ivory Coast
Football is the most popular sport in Côte d’Ivoire.
The football league system in Ivory Coast has 3 main divisions with a promotion and relegation system.
The top tier of Ivorian football is Ligue 1 which features 14 of the best clubs in the country.
Ligue 2 is the next tier that is split into two – Poule A and Poule B with 12 clubs in each of them.
The 3rd division is known as the Championnat D3. This has 38 teams split into 4 groups. Poule A and B have 10 clubs each and Poule C and D have 9 clubs each.
ASEC Mimosas are the most successful club in the country followed by Africa Sports d’Abidjan.
An interesting fact about the Ivorian Ligue 1 is that the top scorer has always been an Ivorian. No international player has top-scored in the league to date.
Betting in Ivory Coast
The sports betting market in Ivory Coast is currently underdeveloped with the sole operator on the market being the merger of the Sports4Africa (under the brand – Sportcash) and the Loterie Nationale de Core d’Ivoire (LONACI). Due to this partnership, there is an offer of both land-based as well as online sports betting in the country.
Both methods are popular in the nation but betting on international online platforms by residents is very common.
Is online sports betting legal in Ivory Coast?
Yes, the sports betting market is regulated in Cote d’Ivoire.
Can I deposit money into my wallet via PaySafeCard/Skrill/Trustly?
Yes. These facilities are available on most online platforms.
What are the other Payment Methods available?
Most websites offer secured payment options mainly using debit cards and credit cards like VISA and MasterCard.
Apart from PaySafeCard, Skrill and Trustly, Neteller is a commonly available withdrawal and deposit option.