Reflections

BY SETH LUXENBERG

In January 2024, during the AFCON 2023 tournament, embassy employees in Elephant colors gather in the U.S. Embassy Abidjan atrium to celebrate Côte d’Ivoire’s soccer team.
U.S. Embassy Abidjan

It’s a pleasant evening on Jan. 24, 2024, in Bouake, Côte d’Ivoire’s second-largest city. Here for an investment forum, I’m enjoying being out at night and experiencing the country far from the embassy in Abidjan, where I work in the economic section. As the spouse of a first-tour officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I am one of several family members advancing U.S. policy priorities in Côte d’Ivoire.

Sitting in a plastic chair in the sand, I’m watching Morocco play Zambia at a maquis, one of the informal restaurants that are everywhere in Côte d’Ivoire. Many have TV screens to watch the games. They serve simple meals.

You pick which protein you want—chicken or fish—and then the nice lady behind the grill prepares it especially for you. On the side she usually adds alloco, plantains dripping in oil, delicious in their own right, with a dipping sauce made from fresh chilies. Add in a cold, watery beer (or three) and an outdoor screen, and there is no better way to watch soccer.

The sport was invented, or at least formalized, in England in the 1800s. One could say, however, that watching the game was perfected in Côte d’Ivoire in the 21st century. Plenty of people are out, many only half watching the game, the last one of pool play for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) soccer tournament, which Côte d’Ivoire is hosting for the second time.

If Morocco wins, then Côte d’Ivoire’s national soccer team, nicknamed the Elephants, will advance to the round of 16. If it’s a tie or Zambia wins, then Côte d’Ivoire will be eliminated. Worse than eliminated, disgraced. Their 0-4 defeat to Equatorial Guinea would be a humiliating way to end the tournament.

Morocco scores against Zambia just before halftime. It slowly starts dawning on more people in the crowd that if Morocco wins, Côte d’Ivoire will advance. As the second half progresses, the number of viewers increases. By the last few minutes, most at my maquis and the half-dozen other maquis on the street start focusing intensely.

This night Morocco has more fans in Bouake than in Casablanca. Finally, the whistle blows, and the city erupts in celebration. Strangers high-five, motorcycles honk their horns—everyone is celebrating the win by their neighbor Morocco that keeps the Elephants in the AFCON.

§

To understand the importance of this win, one must know the devastation felt by Ivoirians across the country and globe after that earlier loss to Equatorial Guinea. U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken attended that game as part of his visit in January 2024. Before introducing the Secretary the day after that defeat, Ambassador Davis Ba addressed the elephant in the room: “The U.S. is Côte d’Ivoire’s partner on the good days and also on the tough days. Today is one of those tough days.” Secretary Blinken told the media, “Someone once said, soccer is life, with ups and downs.”

All seemed lost. Fans destroyed buses outside the stadium in Abidjan. The coach, a Frenchman, even resigned in embarrassment. At independence in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire had a bright future, with a French-trained administration and close ties to France.

While neither Côte d’Ivoire’s political class nor its population has rejected France in the way that some of its neighbors have, it’s clear that Ivoirians no longer want to be a dumping ground for a mediocre French coach. Instead of bringing in another one, the football federation decided to promote deputy coach Emerse Faé. As a former Ivoirian national team player, he is the right man for the job.

§

AFCON involves competition at many levels. Also visiting Côte d’Ivoire this past January was Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In the strategic competition between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the U.S. has lots of advantages—including democratic governance, technology, and cultural power. But so does China: notably, its willingness to build infrastructure, like soccer stadiums.

If geopolitical competition is a popularity contest, then building a soccer stadium for a country hosting a major soccer tournament is about as strong a move as a country can make. We countered, however, with a stronger move and clear message that as a result of U.S. investments, especially in public health, tens of thousands of fans are alive and healthy to fill the AFCON stadiums.

More than all the investments in stadiums, hotels, and roads, and more than the opportunity to host players and fans from across Africa in the “AFCON of Hospitality,” hosting the tournament showed the continent and the world that Côte d’Ivoire is back.

The first two decades of independence were successful (as the world’s leading producer of the main ingredient in chocolate, Côte d’Ivoire had become known as the “Saudi Arabia of cacao”). But the good times couldn’t last forever. Commodity prices dropped in the 1980s, and in 1993 Father Time eventually caught up to founding president, Félix Houphoët-Boigny.

The 1990s and 2000s found Côte d’Ivoire in crisis, consumed in a series of succession battles. Rebel leaders occupied swathes of the country in the early 2000s, and for a few strange, dangerous months in 2011, the country had two presidents at the same time.

§

In the round of 16, the Elephants face Senegal, the AFCON defending champs and one of the favorites to win the tournament. Senegal scores the first goal just four minutes into the game. Then, something unexpected happens. For the first time in the tournament, Côte d’Ivoire plays with heart and conviction. The Elephants give it all they have and end up winning on penalty kicks.

Up next, the Elephants face Mali in the quarterfinals … and more geopolitics.

Although Mali and Côte d’Ivoire share a border, and millions of Malians live in Côte d’Ivoire, the countries aren’t exactly best friends—at least right now. Mali’s current leader came to power in a coup in 2021 and formed the Alliance of Sahel States along with military regimes in Burkina Faso and Niger.

Côte d’Ivoire, conversely, is a leader in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), urging its neighbors to return to democracy. Yet, on Jan. 28, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, also members of ECOWAS, all publicly announced their withdrawal from that multilateral organization, less than a week before the Côte d’Ivoire–Mali face-off.

An Ivoirian defender draws a red card in the first half, forcing Côte d’Ivoire to lose a player on the field. Down a man, and then down a goal, all seems lost again. Somehow, the Elephants power through, tying the game in the final minute of regulation, then scoring the winning goal against Mali in the final minute of extra time.

§

The final match is against Nigeria. Nobody can talk about anything else. An entire country is wearing orange (the Elephants’ color). I head out to watch the game with a group of colleagues, hundreds of new friends in orange jerseys, and several buckets of Budweiser.

Walking to the fan zone in my orange jersey, I get lots of high fives. I no longer feel isolated in my embassy bubble but rather like one fan among millions supporting a team once down and now moving up.

Nigeria scores first. In the 62nd minute, Côte d’Ivoire gets the equalizer. The audience is tense. Both teams are giving it all they have. In the 81st minute, the “Coup de Marteau”—the title of a ubiquitous song by 25-year-old Ivorian Tam Sir that translates to the “Hammer Blow”—is delivered. Sebastian Haller, only two years out from a testicular cancer diagnosis, finds the back of the net.

The Elephants, and this country, have made an improbable comeback.

Seth Luxenberg is an economic associate in the Expanded Professional Associates Program (EPAP) at U.S. Embassy Abidjan. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania and Morocco from 2008 to 2011.