Les Elephants have played a tough slate of friendlies, including matches against Bosnia, Mexico, Belgium, Russia and Italy in the last few years.
And further, these friendlies have been another step more difficult than the opponent list makes it seem. Cote d’Ivoire have not had another national team visit them for a friendly since Israel made the trip in 2011. All of those matches have been played either at neutral sites or more commonly in front of a hostile crowd. Once you account for home field advantage, Cote d’Ivoire’s profile takes another big step forward.