THE IVORY COAST NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM AND THE GAMBIA NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM FACE OFF IN UPCOMING 2027 AFCON QUALIFIERS 

By: Isaac Amponsah (Dr Ike)

• Predictions: Home win/draw

• The 3-time AFCON Champions, Ivory Coast, will lock horns with the 2021 AFCON Quarter-finalist, Gambia, in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers Group C Round 3 fixture at the Stade de Bouaké on Thursday, November 12, 2026.

• The 2027 AFCON Qualifiers showdown on Thursday, November 12, 2026 will be the Elephants of Ivory Coast and the Scorpions of Gambia's 8th meeting in all competitions.

• Head-to-Head since 1979.
Total matches played  - 7
Ivory Coast wins           - 5
Goals scored                 - 15
Gambia wins                  - 2
Goals scored                 - 5
Drawn games                - 0

• January 29, 1979 (International friendly)
Venue: Monrovia, Liberia
Gambia                       2-1 Ivory Coast 

• October 21, 1984 ( 1986 AFCON Qualifier) [1st Round]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan
Ivory Coast                4-0 Gambia 

• November 4, 1984 (1986 AFCON Qualifier) [1st Round]
Venue: Independence Stadium, Bakau
Gambia                       3-2 Ivory Coast 
• NB: Aggregate: Ivory Coast 6-3 - Ivory Coast advanced.

• March 23, 2013 (2014 World Cup Qualifier) [Group C]
Venue: Abidjan
Ivory Coast                3-0 Gambia 
Wilfried Bony 49', Yaya Touré 57', Salomon Kalou 83'

• June 8, 2013 (2014 World Cup Qualifier) [Group C]
Venue: Bakau
Gambia                       0-3 Ivory Coast 
Lacina Traoré 12', Wilfried Bony 62', Yaya Touré 90' (pen)

• November 20, 2023 (2026 World Cup Qualifier) [Group F]
Venue: Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, Dar es Salaam (Gambia home game moved)
Gambia                       0-2 Ivory Coast 
Christian Kouamé 45', Seko Fofana 85'

• March 24, 2025 (2026 World Cup Qualifier) [Group F]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan
Ivory Coast                1-0 Gambia 
Seko Fofana

• No draws ever - 7 games, 7 winners

• Ivory Coast have won the last 4 in a row (2013, 2013, 2023, 2025) - conceded only 0 goals in the last 3

• Gambia's last win was 42 years ago - November 4, 1984

• Biggest win: Ivory Coast 4-0 Gambia (1984).

• Head-to-Head at AFCON Qualifiers:

• October 21, 1984 ( 1986 AFCON Qualifier) [1st Round]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan
Ivory Coast                4-0 Gambia 

• November 4, 1984 (1986 AFCON Qualifier) [1st Round]
Venue: Independence Stadium, Bakau
Gambia                       3-2 Ivory Coast 
• NB: Aggregate: Ivory Coast 6-3 - Ivory Coast advanced.

Total matches played  - 2
Ivory Coast wins           - 1
Goals scored                 - 6
Gambia wins                  - 1
Goals scored                 - 3
Drawn games                - 0

• Match Facts:

• The Elephants of Ivory Coast are ranked 29th by the latest FIFA rankings (October 7, 2026), but their highest ranking was 12th in February 2013, April - May 2013.

• Their first international game was April 13, 1960 (Ivory Coast 3-2 Dahomey) in Madagascar.

• The Scorpions of Gambia are ranked 109th in the FIFA rankings (October 7, 2026), but their highest was 65th in June 2009.

• Their first international game wason  February 9, 1953 (British Gambia 2-1 Sierra Leone) in Gambla.

• Player Records:

• Ivory Coast's most-capped player: Didier Zokora (123 caps, 1 goal).

• Gambia's most-capped player: Omar Colley (62 caps, 1 goal).

• Ivory Coast's all-time top scorer: Didier Drogba (65 goals, 105 caps).

• Gambia's all-time top scorer: Musa Barrow (14 goals, 52 caps).

• Team Information:

• Ivory Coast is located in West Africa, which is part of the WAFU Regional Federation.

• Gambia is located in West Africa, which is part of the WAFU Regional Federation.

• The Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) was officially founded in 
1960. It joined FIFA in 1964 and CAF in 1965. 

• The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) was officially founded on November 3, 1952, and became affiliated with CAF in 1966 and FIFA in 1968.

• Ivory Coast Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Ivory Coast started playing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1965 for the Tunisia 1965 AFCON.

• The first country to play Ivory Coast at the AFCON Qualifiers was Congo-Leopoldville.
January 17, 1965 (Zone 3) [Group Stage]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast                2-0 Congo-Leopoldville 
Maurice Déhi 69', Joseph Bleziri 80'

• Maurice Dehi was the first player to score a goal for Ivory Coast in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

• Ivory Coast have qualified automatically as a Host and as defending champions, andIvory Coast have been at the AFCON Tournament on 26 occasions since 1965 and have won the title three (3) times (1992, 2015, 2023).

• Ivory Coast have lost three (3) times at Home in the AFCON Qualifiers since 1965:

• September 4, 2005 (2006 AFCON/World Cup Qualifiers)[Second Round] {Group 3}
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast                2-3 Cameroon 
Didier Drogba (brace) 38', 47'//Pierre Webo (hat-trick) 30', 45+2', 85'
Referee: Mourad Daami (Tunisia)

• October 15, 2014 (2015 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group D]
Venue: Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan 
Ivory Coast                3-4 DR Congo 
Yaya Toure 24', Salomon Kalou (brace) 68', 72'//Neeskens Kebano 20', Junior Kabananga 34', Jeremy Bokila (brace) 36', 88'
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

• June 10, 2017 (2019 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group H]
Venue: Stade Bouaké
Ivory Coast                2-3 Guinea 
Seydou Doumbia (brace) 14', 61'//Sadio Diallo 31', Francois Kamano 65', Naby Keita 78'
Referee: Helder Martins de Carvalho (Angola)

• Gambia Records at AFCON Qualifiers:

• Gambia started playing in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in 1974 for the 1976 AFCON in Ethiopia.

• The first country to play Gambia at the AFCON Qualifiers was Morocco.
November 24, 1974 (Preliminary Round)
Venue: Stade d'Honneur, Casablanca 
Morocco                    3-0 Gambia 

• The Scorpions of Gambia won their first Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers on April 29, 1979, against Togo in the 1980 AFCON Qualifiers at the Box Bar Stadium, Banjul (1-0).

• Gambia have qualified for the AFCON tournament on 2 occasions since 197,6 and their best result is finishing at the Quarter-finals in 2021.

• The last time the Scorpions of Gambia won an Away game in an AFCON qualifier was September 29, 2026, in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers in Group C fixture against Ghana (2-4). 

• Gambia have won four times in their last eight (8) AFCON Qualifiers (W4 D2 L12 GF12 GA9):
• 04/09/2024 Comoros     1-1 Gambia 
• 08/09/2024 Gambia       1-2 Tunisia ***
11/10/2024 Madagascar 1-1 Tunisia 
• 14/10/2024 Gambia       1-0 Madagascar 
• 15/11/2024 Gambia       1-2 Comoros ***
• 18/11/2024 Tunisia        0-1 Gambia ***
• 24/09/2026 Gambia       2-1 Somalia
• 29/09/2026 Ghana         2-4 Gambia

• Gambia have scored in each of their last eleven (11) AFCON Qualifiers games (16 goals in 11 games).

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games in November:

• The Elephants of Ivory Coast have played 13 AFCON Qualifiers games in November since 1965 (W7 D3 L3 GF19 GA10).

• Ivory Coast are unbeaten in their previous Home AFCON Qualifiers games in November since 1965 (W5 D1 GF10 GA2):
• 22/11/1970 Ivory Coast 1-0 Gabon  
• 19/11/2000 Ivory Coast 2-1 Libya  
• 19/11/2014 Ivory Coast 0-0 Cameroon 
• 16/11/2019 Ivory Coast 1-0 Niger 
• 12/11/2020 Ivory Coast 2-1 Madagascar  
• 19/11/2024 Ivory Coast 4-0 Chad 

• The Scorpions of Gambia have played 13 AFCON Qualifiers games in November since 1976 (W6 D3 L4 GF19 GA18).

• Gambia have played 6 Away AFCON Qualifiers games in November since 1976 (W2 D1 L3 GF6 GA9):
• 24/11/1974 Morocco 3-0 Gambia 
• 09/11/1980 Liberia     0-0 Gambia  
• 14/11/1982 Mali         3-1 Gambia 
• 13/11/2019 Angola    1-3 Gambia  
• 12/11/2020 Gabon     2-1 Gambia 
• 18/11/2024 Tunisia    0-1 Gambia

• Two nations' AFCON Qualifiers games on Thursday:

• Ivory Coast are unbeaten in their previous AFCON Qualifiers games played on Thursday since 1965: (W2 D1 GF4 GA1).
• 12/11/2020 Ivory Coast 2-1 Madagascar 
• 09/06/2022 Lesotho       0-0 Ivory Coast 
• 24/09/2026 Ivory Coast 2-0 Ghana 

• Gambia have played 2 AFCON qualifiers on Thursday since 1976 (W1 D0 L1 GF2 GA2).
• 12/11/2020 Gabon    2-1 Gambia 
• 25/03/2021 Gambia 1-0 Angola

• Center Referee: Abdou Abdel Mefire (Cameroon)

• Abdou Abdel Mefire was born on August 2, 1996 (30 years old) in Cameroon. He has been listed as a FIFA referee to officiate international matches since 2022.

• In the 2025 AFCON tournament, Abdou Abdel Mefire became the youngest referee at 29.  

• This fixture will be the third AFCON Qualifiers game officiated by Abdou Abdel Mefire from Cameroon, and Away teams are unbeaten so far (W1 D1 GF3 GA1):

 • November 15, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group I]
Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela (South Africa)
Eswatini                        1-1     Guinea-Bissau
Mkhonta 81' (pen), Mané 87'
Referee: Abdou Abdel Mefire (Cameroon)

• September 29, 2026 (2027 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group A]
Venue: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein (South Africa)
Lesotho                        0-2     Morocco
Brahim 45', Ounahi 82'
Referee: Abdou Abdel Mefire (Cameroon)

• Ivory Coast lost their only previous AFCON Qualifier game officiated by a referee from Cameroon since 2013 (L1 GF0 GA1):

• October 15, 2024 (2025 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group G]
Venue: Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Monrovia (Liberia)
Sierra Leone                 1-0     Ivory Coast
Bakayoko  85'
Referee: Jeannot Franck Bito (Cameroon

• Gambia are unbeaten in their previous AFCON Qualifiers games officiated by a referee from Cameroon since 2013 (D2 GF2 GA2):

• October 12, 2018 (2019 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group D]
Venue: Stade Municipal, Lomé
Togo                              1-1     Gambia
Denkey  84'    
Ceesay  7'
Referee: Antoine Effa (Cameroon)

• March 22, 2019 (2019 AFCON Qualifiers) [Group D]
Venue: Stade Mustapha Tchaker, Blida
Algeria                          1-1     Gambia
Abeid  42'    
Danso  90+2'
Referee: Sidi Alioum (Cameroon)

• Gambia have scored and conceded in each of their AFCON Qualifiers games officiated by a referee from Cameroon since 2013 (scoring 2 goals and conceding 2 goals in 2 games).

• Ivory Coast are currently 1st with 6 points after matchday 2 games, while Gambia, on the other hand, are 2nd with 6 points in Group C of the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers log.