Côte d'Ivoire's football federation has confirmed that head coach Emerse Faé will depart when his contract expires on July 31, bringing an extraordinary chapter in Ivorian football to a close.

Faé stepped into the role midway through the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil — on an interim basis, with no prior senior coaching experience — after Jean-Louis Gasset was dismissed following a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in Abidjan. At that point, the Elephants appeared to be heading out of their own tournament.

From the brink to champions

A fortunate combination of results elsewhere allowed Côte d'Ivoire to sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams in the group stage. Once in the knockouts, Faé transformed the side entirely, guiding them all the way to the final — where they defeated Nigeria to claim a third continental title and produce one of Africa's most astonishing tournament stories in recent memory.