Ivory Coast men's national basketball team

The Ivory Coast men's national basketball team (French: équipe de Côte d'Ivoire masculine de basket-ball) is the men's basketball side that represents Ivory Coast in international competition. The team competes regularly in the African Championship and is administered by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Basket-Ball.[2]

Côte d'Ivoire
FIBA ranking31 Increase 2 (1 March 2024)[1]
Joined FIBA1961
FIBA zoneFIBA Africa
National federationFédération Ivoirienne de Basket-Ball
CoachNatxo Lezkano
Nickname(s)Les Éléphants
(The Elephants)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances5
AfroBasket
Appearances24
Medals Gold (1981, 1985)
Silver (1978, 1980, 2009, 2021)
AfroCan
Appearances2
MedalsSilver Silver (2023)

With two AfroBasket titles and six overall finals appearances, the country is traditionally home to one of the continent's finest basketball national teams. The Elephants have played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup four times and also played in the 2023 edition.

History

Ivory Coast reached the final of the FIBA Africa Championship for the first time in 1978, but they were defeated by Senegal in the final. They reached the final again in the following tournament, in 1980, but again had to settle for silver, as Senegal took the gold. Another run the following year, in 1981, saw Côte d'Ivoire finally break through and win their first title, as they defeated Egypt for the championship. Four years later, Côte d'Ivoire won their second championship, as they hosted the tournament in 1985, and beat Angola, to win the championship. Côte d'Ivoire finished second at the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship, for their first podium finish since their victory in 1985. They participated in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, which was their first FIBA World Cup appearance since 1986. The team went 1–4 at the tournament, finishing last in Group C. On 2 September 2010, In their final group game, the Ivorians defeated Puerto Rico 88–76, for their first ever FIBA World Cup win, but they came up just short in the tiebreaker to see which team would advance to the knockout stage.[3]

Ivory Coast qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Championship in dramatic and extraordinary circumstances. After only narrowly avoiding elimination in the first qualifying round (they finished 3rd in their group and only qualified because they held the tiebreaker to Mozambique), they needed to win their last three games in the final group by a combined margin of 66 points in order to qualify as the best-ranked third-placed team. They remarkably did so (actually, they won by a combined 73 points), dispatching even African powerhouses and already-qualified Nigeria by a score of 72–46 in the process. Combined with a loss for the Central African Republic against Nigeria, Ivory Coast finished third in the group and qualified for the World Championship by virtue of a better total points difference than Cameroon.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

FIBA World Cup recordQualification record
YearRoundPositionGPWLGPWL
1963did not qualifyAfroBasket served as qualification
1967
1970
1974
1978
1982Classification round13th505
1986Preliminary round23rd505
1990did not qualify
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010Preliminary round21st514
2014did not qualify
2019Classification round29th5051275
2023Classification round27th51412102
2027To be determinedTo be determined
5/172522324177

FIBA Africa Championship

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

YearRoundPositionGPWL
1962did not enter
1964
1965
1968Seventh place7th743
1970did not qualify
1972Tenth place10th615
1974did not qualify
1975
1978Runners-up2nd642
1980Runners-up2nd752
1981Champions1st761
1983Fourth place4th633
1985Champions1st761
1987Classification stage7th523
1989Classification stage5th743
1992Preliminary round11th514
1993Classification stage6th523
1995Classification stage7th532
1997Classification stage8th514
1999Eight place8th624
2001Classification stage8th624
2003Eleventh place11th624
2005Classification stage10th734
2007Quarterfinals8th624
2009Runners-up2nd954
2011Fourth place4th835
2013Fourth place4th752
2015Round of 1612th523
2017Preliminary round14th303
2021Runners-up2nd651
2025to be determined
Total1477374

FIBA AfroCan

  Runners-up

YearRoundPositionGPWL
2019Tenth place10th303
2023Runners-up2nd651
Total954

African Games

  • 1978 –
  • 1987 –
  • 2003 – 4th
  • 2007 – 6th
  • 2011 – 8th
  • 2015 – 7th

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[4][5]

Ivory Coast men's national basketball team – 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
PG0Assémian Moularé20 – (2003-01-21)21 January 20031.87 m (6 ft 2 in)Vichy-Clermont
SF1Charles Abouo33 – (1989-11-04)4 November 19891.96 m (6 ft 5 in)Le Portel
PG2Bazoumana Kone29 – (1993-12-13)13 December 19931.96 m (6 ft 5 in)Karlsruhe Lions
PF3Amadou Sidibé29 – (1994-03-25)25 March 19941.83 m (6 ft 0 in)Peñarol
SF4Patrick Tapé25 – (1998-06-08)8 June 19982.14 m (7 ft 0 in)Caledonia Gladiators
SG7Maxence Dadiet24 – (1999-03-02)2 March 19991.92 m (6 ft 4 in)Toulouse
F8Mike Fofana25 – (1997-10-05)5 October 19972.06 m (6 ft 9 in)ABC Fighters
PG10Solo Diabate36 – (1987-07-21)21 July 19871.83 m (6 ft 0 in)Petro de Luanda
SF12Vafessa Fofana31 – (1992-06-12)12 June 19922.00 m (6 ft 7 in)Gravelines-Dunkerque
C23Cédric Bah (C)29 – (1994-05-11)11 May 19942.00 m (6 ft 7 in)Vichy-Clermont
SG45Nisre Zouzoua27 – (1996-07-16)16 July 19961.92 m (6 ft 4 in)Aix Maurienne
SF77Jean-Philippe Dally27 – (1996-03-08)8 March 19962.01 m (6 ft 7 in)Champagne Basket
Head coach
  • Dejan Prokić
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 25 August 2023

Notable players

Other current notable players from Ivory Coast:

Ivory Coast roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
GPape-Philippe Amagou32 – (1985-02-27)27 February 19851.86 m (6 ft 1 in)Le Mans Sarthe Basket
G/FGuy Landry Edi28 – (1988-12-26)26 December 19882.02 m (6 ft 8 in)Saint-Chamond Basket
F/CHerve Lamizana36 – (1981-01-22)22 January 19812.08 m (6 ft 10 in)Yulon Luxgen
PFHerve Toure35 – (1982-02-25)25 February 19822.05 m (6 ft 9 in)Estudiantes Concordia
CLouri Frejus Zerbo28 – (1989-04-02)2 April 19892.09 m (6 ft 10 in)Limoges CSP Elite
CMohamed Bamba19 – (1998-05-12)12 May 19982.13 m (7 ft 0 in)Orlando Magic

Legend
  • Club – describes current club
  • Age – describes age on 8 June 2017

Past rosters

Team for the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship.

Ivory Coast national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
F4Charles Abouo23 – (1989-11-04)4 November 19891.96 m (6 ft 5 in)CB Peñas Huesca
G5Mouloukou Diabate26 – (1987-07-21)21 July 19871.82 m (6 ft 0 in)SLUC Nancy Basket
F6Issife Soumahoro24 – (1988-10-31)31 October 19881.96 m (6 ft 5 in)Strasbourg IG
G7Pape-Philippe Amagou28 – (1985-02-27)27 February 19851.85 m (6 ft 1 in)Chorale Roanne Basket
G8Kinidinnin Konate32 – (1980-08-23)23 August 19801.88 m (6 ft 2 in)Abidjan Basket Club
C9Hervé Lamizana32 – (1981-01-22)22 January 19812.07 m (6 ft 9 in)
F10Ismaël N'Diaye31 – (1982-04-20)20 April 19821.98 m (6 ft 6 in)Basket-club Boncourt
G11Mickaël Toti26 – (1987-04-11)11 April 19871.81 m (5 ft 11 in)Reims Champagne Basket
C12Jonathan Kale27 – (1985-10-18)18 October 19852.03 m (6 ft 8 in)CB Coruña
C13Louri Zerbo24 – (1989-04-02)2 April 19892.05 m (6 ft 9 in)BCM Gravelines
F14Guy Edi24 – (1988-12-26)26 December 19881.96 m (6 ft 5 in)Gonzaga
F15Mohamed Koné32 – (1981-03-24)24 March 19812.11 m (6 ft 11 in)Chorale Roanne Basket
Head coach
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 20 August 2013

Head coaches

Kit

Manufacturer

Peak[8]

See also

References

External links

Videos