In an interview with AS, Emerse Faé reveals his objectives with the Elephants. Fresh from winning the African Cup of Nations with Côte d'Ivoire, the 40-year-old is already looking ahead to the 2025 African Cup of Nations in Morocco and the 2026 World Cup, where he is aiming for the quarter-finals.
Emerse Faé talks about his next objectives with the Côte d'Ivoire national team. African champion on home soil, the Elephants' coach is already looking ahead to upcoming events, in particular the AFCON 2025, where he intends to make the back-to-back. He also hopes to take Côte d'Ivoire to the 2026 World Cup."We have two objectives: to qualify for the next African Cup and defend our title in Morocco, and to qualify for the next World Cup by reaching at least the quarter-finals," the 40-year-old tells As.
Côte d'Ivoire's last appearance was in Russia in 2014, where they reached the first round. In their three appearances, the Elephants have never progressed beyond the group stage. Emerse Faé is aiming to become the first coach to take the team to the quarter-finals of a World Cup. "I'm off to a good start, but I need to prove myself in the next two competitions," he says.
Emerse Faé took over the reins of the team after Côte d'Ivoire's rout of Equatorial Guinea in the group stage of the AFCON 2023. It was an extremely bitter defeat for Faé, then Gasset's assistant. I couldn't believe we'd lost 4-0," he recalls. The atmosphere in the dressing room was catastrophic, nobody was talking, everyone had their faces covered and their eyes full of tears".
Faé was subsequently promoted to coach after Jean-Louis Gasset resigned. He explains: "On Wednesday morning, the president called me to ask if I felt capable of replacing the resigning coach, and I didn't hesitate to take up the challenge, even with the rumours about Hervé Renard. I was focused on preparing for the match against Senegal, so I didn't pay any attention to the rumors.
