Factbox: Ivory Coast

Colours: Orange shirts, socks and shorts, all with green trim

Nickname: The Elephants

Previous World Cup appearances: (1) 2006

Best World Cup performance: Did not get past the first round in 2006

Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson

Most capped player: Didier Zokora 84

Top goalscorer: Didier Drogba 42

Squad:

Vincent Angban (ASEC Abidjan). Goalkeeper. Born Feb. 2 1985. Caps 1. Goals 0.
Was in the squad for the Ivorians at the recent African Nations Cup finals in Angola and played at the last Olympics in the country's under-23 side. He and club mate Daniel Yeboah are the only home-based players in the preliminary squad.

Boubacar Barry (Lokeren, Belgium). Goalkeeper. Born Dec. 30 1979. Caps 43. Goals 0.
Part of the squads for the last three Nations Cup finals and the World Cup in Germany four years ago, where he made a single appearance and has been the first choice ever since. Has won an award in Belgium for his goalkeeping and had a stint in France.

Daniel Yeboah (ASEC Abidjan). Goalkeeper. Born Nov. 13 1984. Caps 4. Goals 0.
A surprise call-up for a keeper blamed for a loss to South Africa in 2003 that cost a place in the Nations Cup finals. Has not played for the Elephants in the seven years since.

Aristide Zogbo (Maccabi Netanya, Israel). Goalkeeper. Born Dec. 30 1981. Caps 6. Goals 0.
Made the unusual move from an Egyptian club to an Israeli one at the start of the season, making his debut for Maccabi Netanya in October after transferring from El Shorta. He is likely to be the second choice in South Africa.

Souleymane Bamba (Hibernian, Scotland). Defender. Born Jan. 13 1985. Caps 15. Goals 1.
His defensive calamities cost the Ivorians at the Nations Cup in Angola. Has experience at the Olympic Games and the World Youth Championships.

Arthur Boka (VfB Stuttgart, Germany). Defender. Born April 2 1983. Caps 54. Goals 1.
Began his career at ASEC Abidjan's fabled academy and was among the first wave of players to leave for Beveren in Belgium under the tutelage of Frenchman Jean-Marc Guillou. Spent a few seasons at Racing Strasbourg before joining VfB Stuttgart, where he helped to win the Bundesliga in 2007.

Benjamin Brou Angoua (Valenciennes, France). Defender. Born Nov. 28 1986. Caps 7. Goals 1.
Home-grown talent who played at Abidjan's Africa Sports before moving to Hungary in 2006. He was an Olympian in 2008 at the football tournament of the Beijing Games and in January this year moved to Valenciennes.

Guy Demel (Hamburg SV, Germany). Defender. Born June 13 1981. Caps 23 Goals 0.
Paris-born fullback who has spent most of his career in the German Bundesliga but is now set to return to France, where Monaco is his likely destination. Was signed by Arsenal as a promising youngster a decade ago but spent just one season there without impressing Arsene Wenger.

Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal, England). Defender. Born June 4 1983. Caps 40. Goals 1.
Started his career as striker and it shows in his attacking approach, sometimes from deep in defence but also as frequently from midfield. The Ivorians usually use him as a right back. Played in the 2004 Belgian Cup final before moving to Arsenal, where he appeared for them in both the 2006 Champions League final and the League Cup against Chelsea, and Drogba, in 2007.

Steve Gohouri (Wigan Athletic, England). Defender. Born Feb. 8 1981. Caps 8. Goals 3.
A move to England in January, and just a handful of games, has been enough to win him back a place in the preliminary squad after he did not compete in a single qualifier for the 2010 World Cup finals. At his previous club, Borussia Moenchengladbach, he was sent down to the reserves.

Abdoulaye Meite (West Bromwich Albion, England). Defender. Born Oct. 6 1980. Caps 49. Goals 1.
Paris-born Meite vacillated for several months about playing for the Ivorian team despite several invitations before finally agreeing to throw his international prospects in with the Elephants in late 2003. He featured in Olympique Marseille's side which lost to Valencia in the 2004 UEFA Cup final.

Siaka Tiene (Valenciennes, France). Defender. Born Feb. 11 1982. Caps 55. Goals 2.
Left-sided wing back who has been a consistent squad member since his debut in 2000. He has played in several crucial matches for the side but did not get into the squad for the last World Cup finals in Germany.

Kolo Toure (Manchester City, England). Defender. Born March 19 1981. Caps 79. Goals 2.
Made his international debut aged 19 a year after announcing his arrival in the famous teenage team that won the 1999 African Super Cup for ASEC Abidjan. With Arsenal he won a Premier League championship and FA Cup but moved on to Manchester after a dressing-room bust-up with France's William Gallas.

Kanga Akale (Racing Lens, France). Midfielder. Born March 7 1981. Caps 36. Goals 3.
Back in the team after an 18-month absence, he was a starter in the Ivorian line-up at the last World Cup finals in Germany four years ago. Has played club football in Switzerland, France and Spain.

Emerse Fae (Nice, France). Midfielder. Born Jan. 24 1984. Caps 40. Goals 2.
A winner of the world under-17 championships in Trinidad & Tobago with France in 2001, Fae benefited from a change in the FIFA rules, which allowed him to switch his international status. Born in Nantes, Fae came through the French club's renowned youth system to debut in 2003 in Ligue 1. He had a year at Reading but left after a bust-up with manager Steve Coppell.

Jean-Jacques Gosso Gosso (Monaco, France). Midfielder. Born March 15 1983. Caps 5. Goals 0.
Expressed surprise at his own inclusion in the squad, although he was at the Nations Cup finals in Angola, albeit as a squad member who never came off the bench. A former captain of the Ivorian under-20 side, he has played in Morocco and Israel.

Abdelkader Keita (Galatasaray, Turkey). Midfielder. Born Aug. 6 1981. Caps 53. Goals 11.
Spent two seasons with Olympique Lyon after they paid 18 million euro for him from Lille in 2007. He went to Turkey in July where he has not made the expected impact. Played in Tunisia and Qatar before moving to Lille.

Emmanuel Kone (International Curtea Arges, Romania). Midfielder. Born Dec. 31 1986. Caps 11. Goals 0.
Stepped in to help the national side at the start of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers when the side suffered a serious injury crisis. Played in the Champions League with Romanian surprise package Cluj but clashes with his coaches led to him being loaned out this season.

Gervais Yao Kouassi (Lille, France). Midfielder. Born May 27 1987. Caps 14. Goals 3.
Better known as Gervinho and goes to the World Cup as one of the Ivorians' form players, helping Lille to an unlikely Champions League berth for next season after a storming run at the end of this Ligue 1 season. Gervinho contributed 13 goals for his club this season.

Christian Koffi Ndri (Sevilla, France). Midfielder. Born June 4 1983. Caps 28. Goals 2.
Otherwise known as 'Romaric', he made a surprisingly quick recovery from a horrific car smash in 2005 to be included in the squad for the 2006 Nations Cup tournament in Egypt. But there was an outcry when he got left out of the squad for the 2010 finals in Angola.

Cheik Ismael Tiote (FC Twente, Netherlands). Midfielder. Born June 21 1986. Caps 8. Goals 0.
Fresh from winning the Dutch league with Steve McClaren's side, where he played a significant role in their success. Forced his way into the starting line-up with the national side at the Nations Cup in Angola in January.

Yaya Toure (Barcelona, Spain). Midfielder. Born May 13 1983. Caps 48. Caps 5.
Younger brother of Kolo Toure, who is also originally from the ASEC Abidjan academy. He threatens to overshadow his brother with his role in midfield, where his imposing presence and calmness on the ball mark him out. There has been some irritation however at his lack of playing time for Barca in crucial games.

Gilles Yapi Yapo (Young Boys Berne). Midfielder. Born Jan. 30 1982. Caps 32. Goals 0.
Has been absent from the Ivorian team for more than two years but makes a return to the preliminary squad on the basis of regular action for the Swiss runners-up. He has already signed a deal to go to rivals FC Basle next season.

Didier Zokora (Sevilla, Spain). Midfielder. Born Dec. 14 1980. Caps 84. Goals 1.
Ivory Coast's most capped international and backbone of the side, with his no-nonsense role at the heart of the midfield. The highly rated hard man joined Belgium's Racing Genk in 2000 and helped the provincial side to win the league title in 2002 before moving to France, then England and now Spain.

Lacina Traore (CFR Cluj, Romania). Forward. Born May 20 1990. Caps 0.
Extremely tall striker who has scored seven goals this season to help his side win the Romanian league title. Moved from Stade Abidjan two years ago and is a graduate of the Sol Beni Academy in the Ivorian capital. Has been linked with a possible move to Arsenal.

Aruna Dindane (Portsmouth, England). Forward. Born Nov. 26 1980. Caps 56. Goals 18.
He was the original strike partner for Drogba but a run of injuries in recent years left him sidelined. He tragically had to leave the team which was competing at the 2006 Nations Cup finals when his young daughter died. During his time at Anderlecht, he was voted the best player in the Belgian league.

Seydou Doumbia (Young Boys Berne, Switzerland). Forward. Born Dec. 31 1987. Caps 5. Goals 1.
Prolific scorer for Young Boys on their way to the Swiss league title this season, meaning it is impossible to again leave him out of the squad. He was dropped from the team for the 2010 Nations Cup finals when he was deemed too inexperienced, even though he had scored two months before in a friendly against Germany.

Didier Drogba (Chelsea, England). Forward. Born March 11 1978. Caps 66. Goals 42.
Reigning African Footballer of the Year who is the talisman of a side perhaps too dependent on his form. Drogba will postpone surgery to play in South Africa, his fifth successive tournament that the Ivorians have qualified for. Top scorer in England this season as Chelsea won the Premier League title back from rivals Manchester United.

Salomon Kalou (Chelsea, England). Forward. Born Aug. 5 1985. Caps 30. Goals 10.
Had high hopes of playing at the last World Cup finals for the Dutch. He was on the books of Feyenoord at the time and made a legal bid for citizenship, encouraged by Dutch coach Marco van Basten, but was stymied by the Netherlands' strict laws. The Ivorians disowned him at the time only to hand him a debut nine months later.

Bakary Kone (Olympique Marseille, France). Forward. Born Sept. 17 1981. Caps 44. Goals 9.
The diminutive striker (1.64 metres), made his name as the top goal-scorer in the French Ligue 2 with Lorient, scoring 24 times to precipitate a move to Nice in 2005. Scored on his international debut in a World Cup qualifier in 2004 and played at the 2006 World Cup finals.