From war to victory: Top 5 sporting victories from war-torn nations

The Cote d’Ivoire football team

The Cote d’Ivoire football team during the 2013 African Cup of Nations

The Cote d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast saw two civil wars that killed and displaced thousands. The first of them began in September 2002 and lasted over two years until late 2004. Even after the end of the war, the country was split in two as the rebels held sway over the northern part while the government controlled the south.

The situation was pretty tense in 2006, yet amidst it all the Cote d’Ivoire national football team managed to qualify for the World Cup in Germany that year. So much so, that the team was actually credited for helping to bring about a temporary truce between the two warring sides.

After a few years of peace, a second civil war broke out in November 2010 and continued till April 2011. The period was marked by widespread human rights violations from both sides with the country’s citizens constantly in the line of fire.

Despite all of that, the Elephants, as the Ivorian team is popularly known, made both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Though they did not make it out of the group stages, they won widespread praise for their football and were popular at both tournaments.

They also made it to the final of the African Cup of Nations in both 2006 and 2012 and over the last eight years have been the top African team in the FIFA rankings more often than not.