Ivory Coast vs Norway live updates: Haaland starts 2026 World Cup knockout clash

It has been a highly successful World Cup for African teams so far, and this young Ivory Coast side believe it could be a sign of things to come.

Nine of the 10 African qualifiers reached the round of 32, while Ivory Coast’s six points in the group stage was the second-highest total among those teams.

“We’re really happy with what the African teams have done so far,” Ivory Coast head coach Emerse Fae said Monday. “It’s really good for African football: nine out of 10, which shows Africa is improving and making a lot of progress. I hope they’ll go as far as possible. I hope we go the furthest.”

Ivory Coast won a group-stage game at three consecutive World Cups from 2006 to 2014, their most prolific era, with the likes of Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure. But this year’s group have already won two games, despite being the youngest team in the field, with an average age of just 25.4. That comes after winning AFCON 2023. The new generation is here.

This African success also comes four years after Morocco reached the semi-finals in Qatar. Asked if Ivory Coast could overtake Morocco as the continent’s top side, Fae said there is much to be learned from that run, but his team are focused on making their own history.

“Our team does have a great deal of talent. I’ve been saying this for quite some time,” he said. “Obviously, we’re able to go quite far in this tournament. We do see what Morocco did in 2022 and it has inspired many African teams, but we’re not thinking about surpassing Morocco per se. We’re not obsessed with Morocco in 2022. We’re focused on going as far as we can with our own strengths, which are different from Morocco’s.”