The 2014 FIFA World Cup begins on June 12 and five African countries have teams competing among the 32 participating nations. Of the African nations, the Ivory Coast is the only one with a high chance of becoming the first African Team to progress to the quarter finals – round of 16. Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Ivory Coast soccer.
1. Bookie favorite
Bookmakers, including leading South African bookmakers Flashbet are favoring Ivory Coast to be Africa’s winning team at the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup, which begins on June 12. Soccer fans across the world are also rooting for the West African nation.
This is the Ivory Coast’s third time playing in the prestigious games. They have qualified for three consecutive Soccer World Cups, a quest that began in Germany in 2006 where this photo was snapped.
4. First World Cup experience disappointing
In 2006, the Elephants, as the Cote d’Ivoire team is known, failed to progress after being drawn in a group with Netherlands and Argentina.
5. Neither was the second
The draw was equally unkind during the the 2010 edition, held for the first time on African soil, where Ivory Coast found themselves in a pool with Brazil and Portugal – notoriously known as the “Group of Death” for their killer soccer skills. The result was Ivory Coast failed to progress into the knockout stages of the competition in South Africa.
6. Three’s a charm?
Hopefully Ivory Coast fares better next week. In Rio, they are in the relatively easy Group C, which is also comprised of Colombia, Japan and Greece.
The Ivory Coast will play their first match on June 14 against Japan. The match is set to begin at 10pm local time. They play Colombia next in a 1pm match on June 19. Their third match is against Greece on June 24 at 5pm.
In 2008 coach Ulli Stielike left the team before the Africa cup to take care of his son, who was in poor health. As a result, one of the players, Didier Drogba, stepped up to the plate and acted as a player-coach. This was only the second time in African Cup history that a team member did double duty as a player and coach.