What began spectacularly is ending in a purely formal manner: Emerse Faé is no longer the Ivorian national team coach. The decision apparently came from him.
Late Friday evening, there was no mention of it on the federation’s website, nor on X or Instagram. Only via Facebook did the Ivorian Football Federation announce in a statement kept as formal as possible: Emerse Faé is no longer the head coach of the Ivory Coast national team. The 42-year-old’s contract expires on July 31 and will not be renewed.
“The Executive Committee of the Ivorian Football Federation extends its sincere thanks to Mr. Emerse Faé for his dedication, professionalism, and contributions as head coach of the senior national team throughout his time with the federation,” the statement reads. “It particularly acknowledges his contribution to the development of the national team, as well as the successes achieved under his leadership, which represent an important part of the recent history of Ivorian soccer.”
From Interim Coach to National Hero
Faé’s tenure as head coach had begun like a fairy tale. He had gone to the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, held in his home country, as assistant coach to Jean-Louis Gasset. After Gasset was fired following a weak group stage—which the Ivory Coast barely survived as one of the best third-place teams—and the backup plan to bring Hervé Renard back into the role had also failed, Faé took over the team for the knockout stage—and sensationally led them to the title. Prior to that, he had never coached a professional team as head coach.
Faé has not been able to build on these successes with the Elephants recently. At the Africa Cup of Nations in January, their run ended in the quarterfinals against Egypt; at the World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Faé led the Ivorians into the knockout stage for the first time, but they lost to Norway in the round of 32.
Faé sparked controversy during the group stage when he criticized ARD analyst Bastian Schweinsteiger for his comments about the Ivorian national team ahead of the group match against the German national team. “We can call it racist,” Faé said of Schweinsteiger’s remarks, in which Schweinsteiger had described the Ivorians’ style of play as “a bit of African soccer, which is sometimes a little unorthodox, a little wild, and perhaps sometimes not entirely tactical.”
According to a report in the French sports newspaper L’Equipe, the decision to part ways came primarily from Faé; the Nantes-born coach is reportedly looking for a new project. It remains to be seen what will happen with former Bundesliga pro Guy Demel, who had previously served as an assistant coach on Faé’s staff. The Ivorian Football Federation plans to provide information “in due course” regarding the new national team coach and the composition of the coaching staff.
