The West African country of Ivory Coast has a population of just over 20m, which makes it the 56th largest nation in the world. In the footballing world, it is ranked at number 27 in the FIFA World Rankings – a position that represents just how far they have come in recent years, as they were ranked at 75 in 2004. Part of the reason for this has been the emergence of several players currently plying their trade on the world’s greatest stages in Europe. As football grows, funding has grown as the government place extra emphasis on improving the nation’s sporting ability on a wider spectrum – with unemployment growing to a rate of around 40%, plans for the future are being slowly instigated.
The pinnacle of Ivorian domestic football is the C
