Cote d'Ivoire - Team Fact Sheet

Top 10 Tid-bits about Cote d'Ivoire's World Cup Football Team

When you think of Cote d'Ivoire, you think of the Ivory Coast (duh!), elephant tusks, tropical coastlines, and perhaps their affable former President Houphouët-Boigny who built a cathedral in his village to rival the Basilica of Rome.

More likely, though, you think of one of the best football teams in Africa with superstar Didier Drogba leading the charge. Yes, this francophone nation of 21 million is distinguishing itself in the game of international soccer.

At the World Cup in South Africa, they plan to impress on their home continent. So keep an eye out for their distinctive orange, white and green colours. If you blink you might miss a goal.

Here's the top 10 facts you need to know about the Ivoirian football team:

10. The Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) team is nicknamed Les Éléphants (The Elephants). Get it? Elephants - ivory. There's a connection.

9. Cote d'Ivoire crashed out of their debut World Cup in 2006 in the First Round. They got stuck in a brutal group with Argentina and the Netherlands, whom they lost to. But they came back down 0-2 to beat Serbia & Montenegro 3-2. Quality stuff.

8. Cote d'Ivoire won the African Cup of Nations in 1992. They beat Ghana in the most improbable of fashions. (See fact number 2)

7. Cote d'Ivoire's coach is Vahid Halilhodzic from Bosnia & Herzegovina. He played for the Yugoslavian side back in the day, plus some French clubs.

6. Cote d'Ivoire's captain is super-star Didier Drogba who is also their top scorer with 41 goals. A late bloomer, he spent much of his youth slowly building up his game. Now he's a major force in the English Premier League with Chelsea.

5. The Ivory Coast has beaten 4 other African teams by a score of 6-0. The hapless losers were Mali, Niger, Botswana and Madagascar.

4. All but one member of the Cote d'Ivoire team plays for European clubs. That guy, who plays in Cote d'Ivoire and probably makes a tenth of the salary of his team mates, is Vincent Angban. A real patriot.

3. FIFA ranked Cote d'Ivoire 16th before the 2010 World Cup, their highest ranking ever. It could get higher very soon.

2. Cote d'Ivoire has won the 2 highest-scoring penalty shoot-outs in international football: it took 24 shots to beat Ghana 11-10 in the 1992 African Cup of Nations final, then another 24 shots to beat Cameroon 12-11 in a 2006 quarterfinals. Crazy! Our nerves are shot just thinking about it!

1. Cote d'Ivoire is the only team to have never been shut out in any World Cup matches. These guys score goals! Best to keep an eye on 'em throughout the tournament. They could go far.