Afcon 2023: Ivory Coast triumph ‘revenge’ for Emerse Fae after early retirement

Back to Fae’s ambitions and collecting trophies he was denied during his playing career.

Ivory Coast will seek to defend their Nations Cup title at the 2025 edition in Morocco, while the next Fifa World Cup will be in 2026 in North America.

Morocco became the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the global tournament in 2022, but Fae would love to go two steps better than the Atlas Lions.

“Some people would say I am too ambitious but winning the World Cup, why not? It would be a dream,” he said.

“First of all, I would love to bring this team to USA, Mexico and Canada because we missed the last edition in Qatar.

“Before that though, there is another Nations Cup in Morocco and that is going to be difficult as well.”

Ivory Coast won both their opening qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with their next two fixtures in June.

However, it is not certain that Fae will remain in the Ivory Coast dugout despite delivering what at times appeared to be an unlikely continental title.

Fae had declined to discuss taking the role permanently with Ivorian football federation president Yacine Idriss Diallo during the Nations Cup finals.

“In the middle of the competition he wanted to confirm my position as manager but I told him I didn’t want to discuss that before the end of the tournament,” Fae said.

“We’ll see now. First I am going to take some rest, go on holidays next week with my wife and two daughters.

“We are tired, it has been a long tournament. My neck is hurting, I need a bit of time off and my family deserves it as well it has been stressful for them too.”