New Zealand’s opponents Côte d’Ivoire: 10 things you might want to know

By Chris Hood

New Zealand’s first opponents at the Canadian Shield tournament are Côte d’Ivoire, who are rated 45 places higher than the All Whites in the current FIFA men’s world rankings.

Côte d’Ivoire (#41 ranking) currently lead Group F of the African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

The winners automatically qualify for the finals tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

New Zealand, Côte d’Ivoire, Ukraine and hosts Canada are taking part in the Canadian Shield to help all four countries prepare for the FIFA World Cup, and to test facilities in Toronto a year ahead of the global tournament.

Here are 10 things you might not know about New Zealand’s next opponents …

1. A lengthy World Cup qualifying campaign

For Côte d’Ivoire, qualifying for the World Cup is a long process — it started in November 2023 and will take almost two years to complete.

They have five wins and one draw in their group, and have remaining home matches against Burundi and Kenya, and away matches against second-placed Gabon and the Seychelles.

They’re aiming for their fourth appearance at a World Cup tournament, after missing the last two editions.

2. Most recent match line-up

In their last match, against Gambia  in March 2025, the Côte d’Ivoire line-up was:

Yahia Fofana (Angers), Ousmane Diomande (Sporting Lisbon), Wilfred Singo (Monaco), Hassane Kamara (Udinese), Jean-Philippe Ghamin (Zurich), Franck Kessié  (captain) (Al Ahli-Saudi Arabia), Mohamed Diomande (Rangers), Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest), Simon Adingra (Brighton), Nicolas Pépé (Villareal), Sebastien Haller (Utrecht, on loan).

Fofana, Kamara, Pépé and Haller were all born in France, and all but Pépé played for France at age-group level.

3. Champions of Africa

Côte d’Ivoire are the current African Nations Cup champions after beating Nigeria 2-1 in February 2024 in the final in Abidjan. They became the first host country since Egypt in 2006 to lift the trophy.

Main photo: Côte d’Ivoire players celebrate winning the African Nations Cup in February 2024.

They won the tournament the hard way, making the last 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.

Goalscoring hero in the final win against Nigeria was Sébastien Haller, who the year before had recovered from testicular cancer.

All Whites captain Chris Wood’s Nottingham Forest teammates Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangaré were in the Ivorian squad. Captain Serge Aurier was also a Nottingham Forest player at the time, but has since moved to Galatasaray in Turkey.

4. An emerging football nation

Just as New Zealanders look to 1982 as the pivotal year for their national team — when the All Whites reached their first World Cup finals — Ivorians turn to 1992 when their side won the African Nations Cup for the first time.

They beat Ghana 11-10 in a remarkable penalty shoot-out in the final in Senegal after the match finished 0-0.

Goalkeeper Alain Gouaméné saved a penalty and also scored his spot kick. Defender  Kouamé Aka was in the unusual position of having to take two penalties, scoring both.

The starting line-up included three players from clubs overseas, while the rest played their football in domestic competitions.

By contrast, last year, only one Côte d’Ivoire player was selected from a domestic club, and he was one of the back-up goalkeepers.

5. A history with penalty shootouts

If the All Whites draw with Côte d’Ivoire after 90 minutes, the match will go straight to penalties.

If that’s the case, Côte d’Ivoire have a love/hate relationship with shootouts.

Having won the 1992 African Nations Cup after a 21-penalty tiebreaker, Côte d’Ivoire also needed spot kicks to win their second title.

In 2015, in Equatorial Guinea, they again beat Ghana on penalties in the final but this time by 9-8.

However, they were eliminated by penalty shootouts in 2006 and 2012.

6. Big-name players

For their 2015 African Nations Cup success, Côte d’Ivoire were captained by Yaya Touré, who played 230 matches for Manchester City, winning three English Premier League titles, and had won two La Liga titles and the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona. He was the African Footballer of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Star striker Didier Drogba’s international career finished after the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He didn’t go through the ASEC Academy as he emigrated to France when he was five.

Chelsea signed the striker from Marseille, and he went on to become one of the Premier League’s best strikers, and became the footballing hero of a young Chris Wood.

Drogba was the African Footballer of the Year in 2006 and 2009. He scored 65 goals in 105 matches for Côte d’Ivoire.

7. Big-name exports

Côte d’Ivoire-born players who have played for other countries include Basile Boli (France), Marc Guéhi (England)  and Wilfred Zaha (England).

In Zaha’s case, he played for England where he grew up. He changed allegiance to Côte d’Ivoire and has played 33 times for his native country, with his last cap in October 2023.

Interestingly, he could change countries again as the matches he played for England were friendlies.

Conversely, before the rules changed, Basile’s brother, Roger, made one brief substitute appearance for the French Under-21 team, which prevented him from playing at senior level for the Ivory Coast.

8. A New Zealand link

Striker Eugène Dadi played two internationals for Côte d’Ivoire, and played club football in nine countries, including  Côte d’Ivoire, Switzerland, France, Austria, Scotland, England, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.

He had a 10-game stint with the Wellington Phoenix in 2010, scoring five goals. One of the goals was a spectacular bicycle kick, nominated for the A-League’s Goal of the Season.

Now retired from football, Dadi has worked as an actor in Austria and owns his own fashion label.

9. Breaking new ground

Whatever the result, Sunday’s game in Toronto will be the first full international played between New Zealand and Côte d’Ivoire.

Of 12 African Confederation nations, Côte d’Ivoire is the only one that has not played New Zealand.

In 18 matches against CAF teams, New Zealand have won two (against Gambia and Ghana), and drawn six.

10. In the dugout

Côte d’Ivoire’s head coach is Emerse Faé (41), who was promoted to the role last year after two years coaching the national U-23 squad.

He’s a former midfielder who played for Nantes (France) and Reading (England), who paid £2.5 million to sign him for their 2007-08 English Premier League campaign. He made 41 appearances for the national team between 2005 and 2012, and played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Chris Hood

Chris Hood is a Blenheim-based long-time follower of football.

Squads

Tournament format

The Canadian Shield tournament, which is planned to become an annual event, will award three points for a win, one point for a draw and two points for a shootout win.

All matches will have a winner and games will go directly to penalties after 90 minutes (plus injury time).

Both games will take place at BMO Field in Toronto.

BMO Field, Toronto. Photo credit: Pablopicassotoronto / Wikipedia. Licensed under Creative Commons deed.
Rankings

The latest FIFA men’s rankings for the teams at the tournament are New Zealand (#86), Côte d’Ivoire (#41), Ukraine (#25) and Canada (#30).

Fixtures

Games to be played on Sunday June 8, 2025 (NZT)

Canada v Ukraine
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, 7.30am (NZT)

All Whites v Côte d’Ivoire
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, 11am (NZT)

WATCH: Media briefing ahead of All Whites’ match against Cote d’Ivoire >>>>

Games to be played on Wednesday June 11, 2025 (NZT)

All Whites v Ukraine
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, 9am (NZT)

Canada v Côte d’Ivoire
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada, 2.30pm (NZT)

This story was first published on June 7, 2025.

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