Côte d'Ivoire
WORLD CUP 2014
The Elephants will face Colombia, Greece and Japan in Group C, which appears to be a much easier draw than in their two previous appearances at the tournament. Unlucky 2006 and 2010 group draws resulted in the West Africans finishing third behind Argentina and the Netherlands in Germany and third behind Brazil and Portugal in South Africa.
Former Chelsea star Drogba, 36, is confident his side will do better this time. "Competing at the previous two tournaments was very difficult," said the Galatasaray player. "We have a realistic chance to do better in Brazil and get past the first round."
Côte d'Ivoire is one of the five african teams who will participate at the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
Ivory Coast and Ghana reach finals
A week ago the shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2014 was announced
Tunisia qualify with 0:0 draw in Botswana - Tunisia booked their place at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals with a draw away to Botswana in Gaborone on Friday.
Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard has recalled veterans Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora to his squad for the final 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Neither defender has featured for the Elephants in the 2015 qualifiers so far.
On monday the shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the year 2014 will be revealed. While those five names will be established superstars from the continent, there are also a number of excellent young players coming through the ranks - emerging talent who themselves may soon compete for the title.
The Desert Foxes, who in June took over from Ivory Coast as the top-ranked team in Africa, moved up five places.
Cameroon on verge of qualification - Cameroon took a huge step towards qualification with a 2:0 victory over Sierra Leone on Wednesday.
Algeria beat Malawi 2:0 in their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Saturday to be on the verge of booking their place at the final in Morocco.
Match stats:
Yaya Toure has scored in his last three Premier League games against Aston Villa.
Centre-back Souleymane Bamba has been omitted from the Ivory Coast squad to face DR Congo in this month's 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
