Early career Zokora was born in
Abidjan, He was offered a professional contract along with his younger brother, Armando, with Ivorian club
ASEC Mimosas. Tragedy struck though as Armando drowned to death celebrating at the beach in
Grand-Bassam; in memory of his brother and hero, Zokora has
Armand tattooed on his right forearm. In the summer of 2004, he joined
Saint-Étienne in the French
Ligue 1.
Tottenham Hotspur Zokora joined
Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2006 following his performances for the Ivory Coast at the
2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The deal was reported by media as being worth
£8.2 million. Shortly after joining the
Premier League club, it was announced on 24 October 2006 that Zokora had contracted
malaria after falling ill on the morning of a
UEFA Cup group match against
Beşiktaş in
Istanbul. Zokora was in the hospital for four days and then spent a period of two weeks recovering, missing the win over Beşiktaş, two
Premier League matches and a
League Cup fixture as well. It was announced on 31 October that Zokora had returned to training with first-team. Zokora won the
2007–08 League Cup with Tottenham, their first major title in nine years, as a header from
Jonathan Woodgate's face secured a 2–1 extra time victory over
London rivals
Chelsea. He was also part of the Tottenham side which returned to
Wembley Stadium the following year to play in the
League Cup final, this time against
Manchester United. Tottenham lost this game on penalties after the sides drew 0–0 after extra time, with Zokora playing the full 120 minutes. Zokora managed to score a penalty in the shoot-out against
PSV in the
UEFA Cup. On 30 August 2008, Zokora signed a new four-year deal with Spurs that tied him to
White Hart Lane until the summer of 2012. In January 2009, however, the club signed
Honduran defensive midfielder
Wilson Palacios from
Wigan Athletic; the signing relegated Zokora to the substitutes' bench, and he played the full 90 minutes just three times after January. On 15 March, Zokora started at right back for Spurs to try and curtail the pace and trickery of
Aston Villa winger
Ashley Young. In the match, Zokora picked up an early booking and was substituted off after 30 minutes for natural defender
Vedran Ćorluka.
Sevilla During the 2009 summer transfer window, Zokora signed for Spanish
La Liga side
Sevilla for an undisclosed fee, including a reported €30 million release clause. He made his debut for the club on 30 August 2009 in the first round of the
2009–10 La Liga season in a 2–0 loss to
Valencia, entering as a 21st-minute substitute for the injured
Romaric. In his first season in
Andalusia, Zokora managed to help take Sevilla back into the
UEFA Champions League after finishing La Liga in fourth position. In addition to the Liga success, he helped his side claim their fifth
Copa del Rey title by defeating
2010 UEFA Europa League winners
Atlético Madrid 2–0 in the final at
Camp Nou. On 29 January 2011, Zokora came on as a 77th-minute substitute for
Federico Fazio and provided his only assist of the season to
Álvaro Negredo, as Sevilla battled back from 2–0 down to claim a 3–3 draw with
Deportivo de La Coruña.
Trabzonspor Zokora joined Turkish side
Trabzonspor on 2 June 2011 on a four-year deal. The Turkish club announced that the transfer fee was €5 million, with the player earning €1.625 million per season. He made his debut on 10 September 2011 against
Manisaspor. During a 2–0 loss on 15 April 2012 to reigning league champions
Fenerbahçe, Zokora was racially abused by their midfielder
Emre Belözoğlu. Zokora was quoted as saying that Emre called him a "fucking nigger!"; national papers, including
Hürriyet, criticised Emre, and he was later convicted of an insult crime over the incident, receiving a two-and-a-half-month suspended prison sentence, as well as a two-match ban by the
Turkish Football Federation. Zokora dished out his own retribution against the former
Newcastle United midfielder when the two clubs met again on 6 May in Trabzonspor's 3–1 loss, kicking Emre "with the full force of his right boot" into his crotch with Zokora receiving a yellow card for the challenge. On 17 June 2014, Belözoğlu was sentenced to a two-and-a-half-month suspended prison sentence On 29 April 2014, Zokora left Trabzonspor.
Pune City In July 2015, Zokora signed for
Indian Super League side
FC Pune City. He debuted for the side against
Delhi Dynamos FC.
North East United Zokora signed for the
Indian Super League side
NorthEast United in August 2016. He made his debut coming on as a substitute against
Kerala Blasters in a 1–0 win in October 2016. He had his first assist against
Delhi Dynamos on 30 November 2016. He has also received 3 yellow cards in 14 matches his first against Delhi Dynamos then vs
Mumbai City FC and lastly against
FC Pune City. He played mainly as a centre back that season and also captained his side to up to 8 games of the season out of 14.
Semen Padang Zokora joined Indonesian club side,
Semen Padang as a marquee signing on Monday, 24 April 2017. He signed a one-year deal contract. Zokora was one of the biggest transfers in Indonesian football during the
2017 season, after
Michael Essien,
Carlton Cole,
Peter Odemwingie,
Shane Smeltz and
Mohamed Sissoko all joined the competition. In moving to Indonesia, Zokora became one of a growing number of high-profile players to opt for the Liga 1 late in their career. He was released in August, four months later. ==International career==