Early history: 1960s–1980s The team played its first international match against
Dahomey, now known as
Benin, which they won 32 on 13 April 1960 in
Madagascar. The team achieved an 110 victory against the
Central African Republic national football team. In 1961 the team made their first appearance in the
Africa Cup of Nations. After gaining independence from
France, the team finished third in the
1963 and
1965 tournaments. Ivory Coast's performances in the 1970s were mixed. In the
1970 African Cup of Nations, the team finished top of their group, but lost to Ghana – the powerhouses of African football at the time – in the semi-finals, and went on to finish 4th after losing the third-place play-off to the
United Arab Republic (now Egypt). They failed to qualify for
the 1972 edition, losing 4–3 to
Congo-Brazzaville in the final qualifying round, and then qualified in
1974 but finished bottom of their group with only a single point. Missing the
1976 tournament, the team initially qualified for
1978, beating
Mali 2–1 on aggregate, but were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in the second leg. Mali were also disqualified, due to police and stadium security assaulting the match officials during the first leg, resulting in
Upper Volta, who Ivory Coast had beaten in the first qualifying round, inheriting their place. In
1984, the team hosted the African Cup of Nations for the first time, but failed to get out of their group. In
1986, they narrowly qualified from their group on goals scored, and went on to finish third once more, beating Morocco 3–2 in the third-place play-off.
1990s At the
1992 Africa Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast beat
Algeria 30 and drew 00 with Congo to finish top of their group. An extra-time victory over Zambia and a penalty shoot-out win over Cameroon took them to the final for the first time, where they faced Ghana. The match again went to a penalty shoot-out, which became, at the time, the highest-scoring in international football; Ivory Coast eventually triumphed 11–10 to win the title for the first time. They were unable to defend their title in
1994, losing to
Nigeria in the semi-finals.
2000s and World Cup debut In October 2005, Ivory Coast secured qualification for the
2006 FIFA World Cup, their first-ever appearance at the tournament. Having been drawn into a "
group of death" that also featured Cameroon and Egypt, Ivory Coast went into the final match second behind Cameroon, but qualified after beating Sudan 3–1 while Cameroon could only draw with Egypt. Ivory Coast finished runners-up at the
2006 African Cup of Nations, with the tournament including another lengthy penalty shootout, where Ivory Coast defeated
Cameroon 12–11. In the tournament itself, Ivory Coast were drawn into another group of death, against
Argentina,
Netherlands, and
Serbia and Montenegro. They lost 2–1 to Argentina – with
Didier Drogba scoring the team's first-ever World Cup goal in the 82nd minute – and then 2–1 to the Netherlands, meaning they had already been eliminated by the time they played Serbia and Montenegro. After going 2–0 down after just 20 minutes, Ivory Coast came back to win 3–2, with
Bonaventure Kalou scoring an 86th-minute penalty to give Ivory Coast their first-ever World Cup victory. After
Uli Stielike left before the
2008 African Cup of Nations due to his son's health, co-trainer Gerard Gili took his position. To compensate of the lack of another co-coach, Didier Drogba acted as a player-coach. This was only the second time that a player had also acted as a coach at the tournament, after
George Weah was both player and coach for
Liberia during the
2002 tournament.
2010s Ivory Coast qualified for the
2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa, and were again drawn in a group of death, against five-time champions
Brazil,
Portugal, and
North Korea. Having managed a 0–0 draw against Portugal, a 3–1 defeat to Brazil meant that in order to qualify from their group, they would have to beat North Korea, while Brazil needed to beat Portugal, and thanks to Portugal's 7–0 win over North Korea, there needed to be a substantial swing in goal difference. Ivory Coast won 3–0, and Ivory Coast were once again eliminated in the group stage. The team made a third appearance in the
2014 FIFA World Cup in
Brazil, where they were drawn into
Group C against
Colombia,
Greece, and
Japan. After coming from behind to beat Japan 2–1, Ivory Coast then lost 2–1 to Colombia, leaving their qualification in the balance. In their final match against Greece, the score was 1–1 going into stoppage time, and with Japan losing 4–1 to Colombia, Ivory Coast looked set to qualify. However, in the 93rd minute,
Giovanni Sio gave away a penalty which
Georgios Samaras converted, giving Greece both the victory and the place in the last 16; Ivory Coast, meanwhile, went out in the group stage for the third tournament in a row. In 2015, the national team won the
Africa Cup of Nations for the second time in
Equatorial Guinea, defeating
Ghana in a 22-shot penalty shootout, winning 9–8 after a scoreless game. Ivory Coast failed to qualify for the
2018 FIFA World Cup. After needing a win in their final match against
Morocco, they lost 2–0, meaning Morocco qualified instead.
2020s In early 2024, Ivory Coast hosted the
Africa Cup of Nations for the second time. Following a 4–0 defeat to
Equatorial Guinea and third-placed finish in the group stage, coach
Jean-Louis Gasset was dismissed, and assistant coach
Emerse Faé was hired as caretaker in the knockout stages, as the national team qualified as one of the best third-placed teams. Later on, Ivory Coast managed to defeat the defending champions
Senegal in the penalty shoot-outs,
Mali after extra-time, and
DR Congo in the semi-finals. They eventually won the title, defeating Nigeria 2–1 in the final, marking their third victory. For the first time in the history of the African Cup of Nations, the tournament was won by a team that changed coaches during the tournament. ==Home stadium==