Elephants carry weight of expectations as hosts
Last appearance: Last 16
Previous appearances (24): 1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
Best performance: Winners 1992, 2015
In Group A with Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau
There’s a huge weight of expectations on the Ivory Coast players as the country hosts the Africa Cup of nations for a second time. The current crop of The Elephants are expected to do better than the 1984 team which bombed out in the group stages of a tournament contested by only eight teams. Forty years later, 24 teams will battle for the title in six venues across Ivory Coast.
Coach Jean-Louis Gasset started the tournament against Guinea-Bissau last night worried about the fitness of key strikers Sebastian Haller and Nicholas Pepe. Gasset will be hoping the duo will be available to play in their key second match against Nigeria on Thursday.
The Ivorians remain overwhelming favourites against their West African opponents — Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea — and many Ivorians will be hoping their team repeats the success of their 1992 and 2015 squads.
The current Ivorian side is not on the same level as the golden generation that included Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Yaya and Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Gervinho and Didier Zakora — but still Haller and company are expected to use their home advantage.
Other than Haller, Gasset has senior players — defender Serge Aurie, midfielder Frank Kessie and captain Max-Alain Gradel
— to rely on as they battle to win the cup for the third time.
Together with long time West African rivals Nigeria, the Ivorians are tipped to not only go through to the last 16, but be contenders for the title. That second game against Nigeria on Thursday will give everyone a clear indication of what Gasset’s team is capable of.