The Ivory Coast national football team, known as the Elephants, represents one of West Africa's most celebrated footballing nations. The team is governed by the Ivorian Football Federation and competes on the continental and global stage, drawing on a population where football commands enormous passion — roughly half of all Ivorians consider themselves football fans.
The team's greatest continental achievements came in 1992, when they lifted the Africa Cup of Nations trophy on Senegalese soil, and again in 2015, claiming a second continental title. Earlier, in 1984, Ivory Coast hosted the Africa Cup of Nations with matches staged in Abidjan and Bouaké, a tournament that captured national attention so thoroughly that the government suspended school for its entire duration. The team also reached the final of the competition in 2006, the same year they made their historic debut at the FIFA World Cup in Germany — a milestone that signalled their arrival as a genuine force in world football.
Much of the team's global profile in the 2000s and 2010s was built on a generation of exceptional talent. Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré, Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, and Wilfried Bony all represented the Elephants during an era that brought the country sustained international attention. In 2008, the Olympic side also qualified for the Beijing Summer Olympics.
At club level, Ivory Coast has contributed to continental football through sides such as ASEC Mimosas, Stade Abidjan, Africa Sports d'Abidjan, and Stella Club d'Adjamé, who between them have claimed multiple CAF trophies. The national league, Division 1, is organised by the Ivorian Football Federation and features sixteen top-flight clubs.