Ivory Coast men's national basketball team

Côte d'Ivoire

FIBA ranking	40 6 (7 December 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA	1961
FIBA zone	FIBA Africa
National federation	Fédération Ivoirienne de Basket-Ball
Coach	Natxo Lezkano
Nickname(s)	Les Éléphants (The Elephants)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	4
AfroBasket
Appearances	24
Medals	Gold: (1981, 1985) Silver: (1978, 1980, 2009, 2021)
Home Away

The Ivorian Coast national basketball team 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]

With two AfroBasket titles and five overall finals appearances, the country is traditionally home to one of the continent's finest basketball national teams.

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. In their final group game, the Ivorians defeated Puerto Rico, 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.

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 Africa Championship[]

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L
1962	Did not enter
1964
1965
1968	Seventh place	7th	7	4	3
1970	Did not qualify
1972	Tenth place	10th	6	1	5
1974	Did not qualify
1975
1978	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	2
1980	Runners-up	2nd	7	5	2
1981	Champions	1st	7	6	1
1983	Fourth place	4th	6	3	3
1985	Champions	1st	7	6	1
1987	Classification stage	7th	5	2	3
1989	Classification stage	5th	7	4	3
1992	Preliminary round	11th	5	1	4
1993	Classification stage	6th	5	2	3
1995	Classification stage	7th	5	3	2
1997	Classification stage	8th	5	1	4
1999	Eight place	8th	6	2	4
2001	Classification stage	8th	6	2	4
2003	Eleventh place	11th	6	2	4
2005	Tenth place	10th	7	3	4
2007	Eight place	8th	8	2	6
2009	Runners-up	2nd	9	5	4
2011	Fourth place	4th	8	3	5
2013	Fourth place	4th	7	5	2
2015	Classification round	12th	5	2	3
2017	Preliminary round	14th	3	0	3
2021	Runners-up	2nd	6	5	1
Total

African Games[]

• 1973 – ?
• 1978 –
• 1987 –
• 2003 – 4th
• 2007 – 6th
• 2011 – 8th
• 2015 – 7th

Team[]

Current roster[]

Roster for the AfroBasket 2021.^[3]

Ivory Coast men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. SG 5 Jean-François Kebe 26 – (1994-10-14)14 October 1994 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Saint-Quentin PG 6 Bryan Pamba 29 – (1992-01-07)7 January 1992 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) SG 8 Stephane Konate 41 – (1980-08-23)23 August 1980 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) ABC Fighters PG 10 Mouloukou Diabate 34 – (1987-07-21)21 July 1987 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Zamalek F 12 Vafessa Fofana 29 – (1992-06-12)12 June 1992 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Cholet PG 13 Nisre Zouzoua 25 – (1996-07-16)16 July 1996 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) SG 14 Guy Edi 32 – (1988-12-26)26 December 1988 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Champagne Basket C 15 Willy Kouassi 29 – (1991-12-29)29 December 1991 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) DSG PF 16 Bali Coulibaly 26 – (1995-07-03)3 July 1995 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) G 19 Lionel Kouadio 19 – (2001-09-01)1 September 2001 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Abidjan Azur C 23 Cédric Bah 27 – (1994-05-11)11 May 1994 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) ADA Blois PF 24 Matt Costello 28 – (1993-08-05)5 August 1993 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) CB Gran Canaria	Head coach Natxo Lezkano Assistant coach(es) Miguel Hoyo Mickaël Toti

Depth chart[]

Notable players[]

Other current notable players from Ivory Coast:

Ivory Coast roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G Pape-Philippe Amagou 32 – (1985-02-27)27 February 1985 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Le Mans Sarthe Basket G/F Guy Landry Edi 28 – (1988-12-26)26 December 1988 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) Saint-Chamond Basket F/C Herve Lamizana 36 – (1981-01-22)22 January 1981 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Yulon Luxgen PF Herve Toure 35 – (1982-02-25)25 February 1982 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Estudiantes Concordia C Louri Frejus Zerbo 28 – (1989-04-02)2 April 1989 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) Limoges CSP Elite C Mohamed Bamba 19 – (1998-05-12)12 May 1998 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Orlando Magic	Legend Club – describes current club Age – describes age on 8 June 2017

Head coach position[]

• Vladislav Lučić – 1981–83
• Jacques Monclar – 2007
• Randoald Dessarzin – 2009, 2010
• Christophe Denis – 2012
• Natxo Lezkano – 2011, 2013,^[4] 2015

Past rosters[]

Team for the 2013 FIBA Africa Championship.

Ivory Coast national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. F 4 Charles Abouo 23 – (1989-11-04)4 November 1989 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) CB Peñas Huesca G 5 Mouloukou Diabate 26 – (1987-07-21)21 July 1987 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) SLUC Nancy Basket F 6 Issife Soumahoro 24 – (1988-10-31)31 October 1988 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Strasbourg IG G 7 Pape-Philippe Amagou 28 – (1985-02-27)27 February 1985 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Chorale Roanne Basket G 8 Kinidinnin Konate 32 – (1980-08-23)23 August 1980 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Abidjan Basket Club C 9 Hervé Lamizana 32 – (1981-01-22)22 January 1981 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) F 10 Ismaël N'Diaye 31 – (1982-04-20)20 April 1982 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Basket-club Boncourt G 11 Mickaël Toti 26 – (1987-04-11)11 April 1987 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Reims Champagne Basket C 12 Jonathan Kale 27 – (1985-10-18)18 October 1985 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) CB Coruña C 13 Louri Zerbo 24 – (1989-04-02)2 April 1989 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) BCM Gravelines F 14 Guy Edi 24 – (1988-12-26)26 December 1988 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Gonzaga F 15 Mohamed Koné 32 – (1981-03-24)24 March 1981 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Chorale Roanne Basket	Head coach Natxo Lezkano Legend Club – describes last club before the tournament Age – describes age on 20 August 2013

Kit[]

Manufacturer[]

Peak^[5]

See also[]

• Ivory Coast national under-19 basketball team
• Ivory Coast national under-17 basketball team
• Ivory Coast women's national basketball team

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• FIBA profile
• Cote d'Ivoire Basketball Records at FIBA Archive

Videos[]

• Ivory Coast – 2010 FIBA World Championship Team Profile Youtube.com video