Coach Henri Michel’s final 23-man squad consisted entirely of players based outside Africa with the exception of Tunisian giants Esperance keeper Jean-Jacques Tizie.

The Elephants, who qualified to the World Cup finals for the first time in their history, were placed in Group A along hosts Egypt, Libya and Morocco.

The ACN takes place in the 20th of January and ends in the 10th of February.

Ivory Coast Squad:

Goalkeepers: Boubacar Barry (Beveren, Belgium), Gerard Gnanhouan (Montpellier, France), Jean-Jacques Tizie (Esperance, Tunisia)

Defenders: Arthur Boka (Racing Strasbourg, France), Guy Demel (Hamburg SV, Germany), Cyrille Domoraud (Creteil, France), Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal, England), Blaise Kossi Kouassi (Troyes, France), Abdoulaye Meite (Olympique Marseille, France), Kolo Toure (Arsenal, England), Marc Zoro (Messina, Italy)

Midfielders: Kanga Akale (AJ Auxerre), Emerse Fae (Nantes, France), Christian Koffi Ndri (Le Mans, France), Siaka Tiene (St Etienne, France), Gilles Yapi Yapo (Nantes, France), Gneri Yaya Toure (Olympiakos Piraeus, Greece), Didier Zokora (St Etienne, France)

Strikers: Aruna Dindane (Racing Lens, France), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, England), Bonaventure Kalou (Paris St Germain, France), Arouna Kone (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Bakary Kone (Nice, France)