Qualified Team Focus - Côte d'Ivoire: Elephants hunting for first-ever Olympics spot

MIES (Switzerland) - It is now time to meet the six teams in this FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 Puerto Rico with the dream of becoming Olympic champions this summer.

Here is the number 31 team in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, the two-time FIBA AfroBasket champions Côte d'Ivoire. The Elephants will be participating in their first OQT and also hope to reach the Olympics for the first time.

How they qualified

 

Côte d'Ivoire travelled to Asia for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 having qualified for FIBA's flagship event for the second straight time and third time in four editions.

Drawn into Group G in Jakarta, Côte d'Ivoire started the campaign with a 94-64 lose to reigning world champions Spain. The Elephants rebounded in style and defeated Iran 71-69 before losing 89-77 to Brazil.

Côte d'Ivoire took a 1-2 record into the 17-32 Classification but could not grab another win. They suffered a 94-84 loss to Lebanon and finished their FIBA World Cup with an 87-77 defeat at the hands of France.

Côte d'Ivoire ultimately finished 27th and qualified for the OQTs as one of the best 16 remaining teams that did not advance directly to the Summer Olympics.

Record at the Olympics

Cedric Bah's inside play could help The Elephants reach the Olympics

Appearances: 0
Medals: 0

Recent OQT history*

* Since 2008

Côte d'Ivoire have established themselves as a contender in Africa, having reached the Semi-Finals in four of the last six FIBA AfroBaskets - taking second place in 2009 and 2021. But this was the first time the Elephants booked a spot in an OQT.

Last Olympics appearance

Vafessa Fofana and co. would love to debut at the Olympics in Paris

Côte d'Ivoire have a total of five appearances in the FIBA World Cup, but the Elephants have yet to make their debut on the Olympic stage. They hope that changes for Paris 2024. 

The OQT Group Phase

Alex Poythress was a dominant force at the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers

Côte d'Ivoire will have a tall task in their OQT in Puerto Rico. The Elephants start the Group A campaign against Lithuania.  A day later the Africans will take on Mexico. Côte d'Ivoire lost all three games against Europeans or Americas teams at last summer's FIBA World Cup.

The top two teams from Group A will go into the Semi-Finals with those sides facing Puerto Rico, Italy and Bahrain from Group B. The two Semi-Finals winners will square off in the Final with the winner grabbing a ticket to Paris.

Côte d'Ivoire OQT games

vs Lithuania (July 3)
vs Mexico (July 4)

Players to watch

Solo Diabate at the 2010 FIBA World Cup

Solo Diabate remains the Elephants leader even though he will turn 37 shortly after the OQT. The point guard is slowly handing the reins to the next generation but he will still be there when things get heated. He has played at three FIBA World Cups and seven FIBA AfroBaskets dating back to 2007.

The team's playmaker of the future is Assemian Moulare, who averaged a 6.3-to-1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in the first window of the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers - already the third continental qualifying campaign at which the 21-year-old is playing. Look for Moulare to follow Diabate's lead but take over more and more responsibilities.

Assemian Moulare

Côte d'Ivoire included three naturalized players on their preliminary roster: Alex Poythress, who starred in the first window of the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 Qualifiers; Deon Thompson who last played at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifers; and Matt Castello, whose most recent appearance came in the FIBA World Cup 2023 Africa Qualifiers. One of them will make the team for Puerto Rico.

The wings Jean Philippe Dally, Nisre Zouzoua and Vafessa Fofana are all legitimate scoring options while Cedric Bah serves as an excellent rim protector.

 

Qualified Team Focus series

During coming weeks and months, we will continue to check out all teams ready to step out as part of our Qualified Team Focus series. You can already take a look at Lithuania, Italy and Mexico.

FIBA